1951-10-29

Mr. George A. Drew (Leader of the Opposition):: Mr. Speaker, I rise on a question of privilege affecting every hon. member of this house. I have just received a copy of a pamphlet that is printed and issued by the Labour-Progressive party of Canada, correctly described as the communist party of Canada, and I propose to submit this pamphlet to you to consider what steps should be taken. It is the most villainous attack that I have yet seen on this government and upon the Prime Minister of Canada (Mr. St. Laurent). In addition to that, the attack includes every member of this house as a result of the allegations that are made. I would point out that, no matter what differences of opinion those of us who serve the democratic processes of our constitutional system may have, I am sure that there is no member of this house, no matter what party he supports, who will at any time overlook a challenge to the government of Canada as an institution and to the integrity of the Prime Minister as the head of that government.
In this pamphlet under the heading "Who Wants War?" There is on the third and fourth pages, on the one side an arm with a nazi symbol and on the other a similar arm with a dollar sign, and in both cases blood dripping from the hand. Then we read these words:
They are putting guns in the hands of nazis again! They are arming the Japanese militarists! Who are doing this? The U.S. bankers, industrialists, profiteers! St. Laurent and Pearson agree to send Canadian troops to march with nazis in Europe.
I would remind you, Mr. Speaker, that the members of this house of all parties have approved of the course that has been followed by the government. One only needs to read that pamphlet in order to see the whole nature of this challenge not only to the Prime Minister and to the government but to the members of this house. I quote again:
Korea was the "testing" place for this new army of reaction, fascism, imperialism. How Goebbels, Hitler, Goering and Tojo must chortle from their graves! We must not desecrate the memory of our Canadian soldier dead!
Then on the left-hand page is a picture of Eisenhower and our Minister of National Defence (Mr. Claxton), under the hand dripping with blood and with the dollar sign, and on the other side, with a corresponding arm and the nazi sign are pictures of Hitler, Goering and Goebbels. Then as we read on in this pamphlet we find a statement like this:
Sure, Prime Minister St. Laurent pats kiddies' heads and strikes a fatherly pose for photographers. But, many of our children have less food, less clothes, less of everything because he helps the Yankee eagle dig his greedy claws into our resources.
St. Laurent sent our boys to Korea, he is going to send more thousands of our boys to Europe, at the behest of his bosses in the United States.
That is all I intend to read of this villainous slander on every member of this house who has joined in approving the course of action that the government has followed in this case. This pamphlet closes with the words "Who can you spare?" and on the other side are the names of the members of a family of an ordinary, well known name, and on the other side are pictures of Truman, St. Laurent and MacArthur.
Mr. Speaker, I need not remind you of the tradition in regard to offences of that kind in relation to the members of this house.
For more than a century and a half now it has been the accepted practice and procedure that challenges of this kind should not pass unnoticed. There is I submit a particular reason why you should take this into consideration. It has just recently been announced that we have already received into Canada the largest number of new Canadians who have come into Canada in any year since the close of the last world war. A large percentage of those are people who will make excellent citizens, but there are people who come from countries which have not the traditions of freedom which we accept as a matter of course. These pamphlets are being circulated amongst these people. What must be the thoughts in the minds of these people coming here and not understanding the extent to which we permit communists in this country to challenge the authority and the motive of government itself as an institution, and to challenge the action of members of parliament? Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I am placing this in your hands with the request that consideration be given to the impact of this document not only on those who are able

Labour-Progressive Party from their experience and their understanding of our democratic system to balance these statements and form an objective judgment, but also to have regard to what the effect of a pamphlet of this kind would be upon the minds of those new Canadians who are being welcomed here, and who should become citizens of a democracy in which they have :onfidence.
I need hardly point out to hon. members that publications of this kind are not inexpensive, and that it may well arouse the interest of hon. members to see the communist part of Canada circularizing the people of this country with an extremely expensive publication of that kind. Therefore I forward this to you with the respectful suggestion that you give consideration to the course which should be followed in regard to this circular.


Mr. Speaker:: I am sure the house is indebted to the leader of the opposition for bringing this matter to its attention. I can assure him that it will receive my careful attention.



QUESTIONS


Mr. Wright:: 1.	On what date was the custom port In Melfort, Saskatchewan (a) opened; (b) discontinued?
2.	What were the receipts in this port during this period?
3.	What were the costs of administration during the same period?


Mr. McCann:: 1.	(a) Established las outport 1st May, 1913;
(b)	closed 1st February, 1936. Established as preventive station and postal collecting station 15th March, 1936; closed 1st April, 1949.
2.	$337,259.89.
3.	$36,811.70.



INCOME TAX-REMITTANCE TO COMPANIES

Mr. Diefenbaker:: How many companies, if any, have been remitted any part of income tax, since the 1st of January, 1950?


Mr. McCann:: Ten.



SALES OF FEEDER CATTLE FROM KAPUSKASING, ONT., EXPERIMENTAL FARM

Mr. Diefenbaker:: 1.	Have any feeder cattle been sold off the experimental farm at Kapuskasing, Ontario, within the last six months?
2.	If so, how many, and what are the names and addresses of the purchasers?
3.	What was the total weight of said cattle at the time of sale, and the price paid per pound by the purchasers?


Mr. McCubbin:: 1.	Yes.
2.	(a) 80. (b) Mr. Leslie Walker, Porquis, Ontario.
3.	70,602 pounds at 31-5 cents per pound.



NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SERVICE


Mr. Gillis:: 1.	How many offices does the national employment service occupy in Sydney, Nova Scotia?
2.	Are these offices owned by the government, rented or leased?
3.	If rented or leased, from whom are they rented or leased?
4.	What rental is paid per year?


Mr. Fournier (Hull):: 1.	The national employment service occupies the whole of the ground floor, second floor and basement of the Azar building, at 319 George Street, Sydney, N.S.
2.	Rented by the government.
3.	Premises rented from Joseph G. Azar.
4.	$10,113.48 per annum.



DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE PRODUCTION


Mr. LaCroix:: 1.	How many civil servants are in the employ of the Department of Defence Production?
2.	How many are English-speaking Canadians?
3.	How many are French-Canadlans?


Mr. Mcllraiih:: In answer to part 1 of this question, as of September 30, 1951, there were 1,298 employees of the department appointed under the provisions of the Civil Service Act, and in addition 194 employees appointed on the authority of the treasury board.
With respect to parts 2 and 3 of the question, I am not quite clear as to what information the hon. member is seeking. All employees can speak some English, but of the total number of employees, some 1,224 have the English language as their mother tongue.
With respect to part 3, which reads: '"How many are French-Canadians?", I am not clear if this question refers to racial origin, or to language qualifications. If it refers to racial origin of employees, the records do not indicate the racial origin of the employees, and it would be necessary to check with each individual employee to get the information. If the question has reference to language qualifications, there are 265 employees of the department whose mother tongue is French.



ALLOWANCES AND ASSISTANCE PAID TO WAR VETERANS

Mr. Goode:: 1.	What is the total of recipients under war veterans allowance?

2.	What is the total amount paid under war veterans allowance for the years 1949, 1950 and 1951, to date?
3.	By provinces, what is the number of recipients of war veterans allowance?
4.	By provinces, what total amount was paid in 1949, 1950 and 1951, to date?
Questions
5.	What is the total amount paid under war veterans allowance assistance fund, 1950 and 1951, to date?
6.	By provinces, how many recipients are under the assistance fund at this time?


Mr. Mutch:: Return at September 30, 1951:
1.	40,020.
2.	Fiscal year ending March 31,
1949		
1950		
1951		
From April 1, 1951 to September 30, 1951

At Sept. 30, Fiscal year ending March 31,
1951	1949	1950	1951
Newfoundland	 559 $ Nil $ 180,163.76 $ 298,003.32
Prince Edward Island	481	236,894.75	240,218.00	275,079 98Nova Scotia	
2,345	1,085,767.59	1,161,055.37	1,329,553.26
New Brunswick 

1,691	789,649.16	840,764.23	962,779.94Quebec	
4,115	2,072,829.05	2,081,892.38	2,338,179.86Ontario	
13,558	6,712,016.86	6,766,150.25	7,862,702 88Manitoba	
3,422	1,737,228.15	1,741,583.05	1,971,406.55Saskatchewan	
1,940	1,026,543.91	980,891.60	1,031,549 94Alberta	
2,737	1,421,368.49	1,421,291.92	1,581,709.91British Columbia	...	9,172	4,658,931.23	4,604,185.08	5,272,366 31
April 1,1951 to Sept. 30, 1951 $ 169,906.03 145,633.74 716,032.55 509,718.09 1,250,022.94 4,114,153.15 1,043,708.47 582,534.96 825,257.86 2,779,176.76
5.	Fiscal year ending March 31 1950	
Fiscal year ending March 31, 1951	
From April 1, 1951 to September 30, 1951

6. Figures include individuals who received assistance from the assistance fund (W.V.A.) during the period from April 1, 1951 to September 30, 1951, by means of either a monthly payment or a single lump sum
payment:
Newfoundland	 41
Prince Edward Island	 57
Nova Scotia	 353
New Brunswick	 343
Quebec	 1,108
Ontario	 1,953
Manitoba	 769
Saskatchewan	 300
Alberta	 469
British Columbia	 2,198



WELFARE AND ENTERTAINMENT


Mr. Dinsdale:: 1.	What welfare and entertainment services have been provided for the Canadian troops serving in Korea?
2.	Has the Department of National Defence received any complaints as to the adequacy of such services? If so, what has been the nature thereof?
3.	Are any additional welfare services to be set up? If so, what are the particulars thereof?


Mr. Claxlon:: Since a number of other hon. members have asked questions on this same point, in answering it I might do so orally, and deal with some of the other questions that have been put, including particularly one by the hon. member for Lake Centre (Mr. Diefen-baker), of which he just gave me notice.
In Korea the poverty stricken character of the country, worsened by the ravages of war, makes invalid any comparison with the conditions that existed in western Europe during the first or second world wars. It is very seldom that troops are located where any type of accommodation is available. They move from one place to another very frequently. To set up recreational centres as we had them in Europe is quite impossible. I am informed that the American, British, Canadian and other forces have not got in Korea any outside agencies to perform welfare services and provide recreational facilities as was done by such agencies as the Salvation Army in Europe. In Korea these services are taken care

Questions
of for each country by service personnel. In the case of Canada, in addition to regimental officers and personnel responsible for these activities, there are 13 chaplains and 6 welfare officers with substaffs of N.C.O.'s and men-in proportion to the men engaged, as many as were in the agencies in western Europe. When conditions permit, recreational centres under canvas are set up. The officer responsible for welfare in each unit operates a canteen wagon which carries supplies such as cigarettes, chocolate bars, cakes, books, etc. He also has a radio which broadcasts news and recorded Canadian programs.
Everyone knows that conditions are far from desirable. That is why we plan if the military situation permits to carry out the policy of having men return home after they have served a year abroad, whereas they were sometimes away in western Europe for four or five years. We hope that all our commitments there will be ended as soon as possible.
Coming to the specific question asked by the hon. member on the order paper, may I say that the answers are as follows:
1. Included in the welfare and entertainment which have been provided are the following:
(a)	sports equipment for field games and organized sports, such as baseball, volleyball, basketball, etc.;
(b)	current motion pictures of Canadian, United States and British origin are shown six days a week to the troops, when not committed in action. In addition, films of special interest, such as the Grey Cup football final and the Canadian open golf tournament have been sent to Korea;
(c)	tape recordings of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation programs of special interest are re-broadcast over the armed forces radio service;
(d)	reading material provided by the Canadian Legion is distributed monthly on the basis of 30 books, 15 digests, 40 different current popular magazines for each 100 men. Large numbers of Maclean's magazines and Montreal Standard are supplied free by publishers;
(e)	twenty free cigarettes per man is included in the daily ration and this is supplemented by gifts of cigarettes from organizations and private individuals. In addition, friends, relatives and civilian organizations are sending gifts of cigarettes, tax and duty free, to individual soldiers;
(f)	Army welfare officers distribute regularly gifts from Canadian organizations and private individuals;

(g)	a thousand words of spot news are provided by the Canadian Press and cabled daily for the forces' edition of Japan News, one copy of which is provided for each five men. This is provided as a national service at a nominal compilation charge. The Canadian Press also sends feature copy three times a week by Canadian Pacific Air Lines. The Canadian brigade publishes a tri-weekly mimeographed troop sheet giving local news. The first commonwealth division publishes a daily mimeographed newspaper, Crown News, which includes Canadian news, provided by the Canadian Press. The Canadian Press news is broadcast daily over stations of the armed services radio service;
(h)	the Canadian forces also have the use of recreational facilities provided for the United States and for other commonwealth forces, including the commonwealth leave centre at Tokyo.
2.	When the brigade first arrived in Korea, there were complaints regarding a lack of reading and writing material as this had not yet arrived. Remedial action was taken immediately and there have been no further complaints of any kind.
3.	While it is not anticipated that it will be possible to make specific developments in the near future or indeed until the situation on the front and the type of warfare change, matters of welfare are subject to continuous consideration and additional services and facilities will be provided when this is possible.
I might add a further word.
As evidence that the soldiers understand the situation I mention the exceptionally high morale of the Canadian brigade.
The reports furnished to me by numerous Canadian officers whose official business and experience is to know about these things is that they have never seen a force with better morale.
Bill Boss, Canadian Press correspondent who has been in Korea over almost a year, said:	"The troops' morale was outstanding".
"The Patricia's had an esprit de corps so real you could touch it." "The Patricia's are the finest thing the Canadian army has ever created".
A Canadian Press dispatch Saturday reports Archbishop Roy as saying:
The archbishop pronounced the troops fit in all departments-training, equipment and morale-and termed Brigadier John Rockingham's 25th brigade equal to anything the Canadian army had produced anytime, anywhere.

The Presidential citation is not won by a unit with poor morale. Actions speak louder than words and the best comment is the record of the brigade itself.
The chief of general staff received just this morning a letter from the officer commanding the first commonwealth division, Major General A. J. H. Cassels, C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O., in which he said:
I have nothing but praise for alJ units of your brigade group and I am not just saying this to please you. They are magnificent and are always ready for anything.


Mr. Speaker:: Answered.



RECONSTRUCTION OP DAM AT SOURIS, MAN.

Mr. Dinsdale:: When will work begin on the reconstruction of the dam at Souris, Manitoba?


Mr. McCubbin:: As soon as conditions permit in 1952.
Questions



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND


Mr. Kickham:: 1. What are the locations of the offices of (a) the Department of Veterans Affairs; (b) those administering the Veterans Disability Pensions Act, the War Veterans Allowance Act and the Veterans Land Act, in the province of Prince Edward Island?
2.	What are the names of those employed in each of the above offices, their positions and respective salaries?


Leslie Alexander Mutch: Return at October 24, 1951:
1. (a) 184 Richmond St., Charlottetown, P.E.I.
(b) Veterans Disability Pensions Act (Canadian pension commission) and War Veterans Allowance Act: 184 Richmond St., Charlottetown, P. E. I.
Veterans Land Act: Riley Building, 103 Queen St., Charlottetown, P. E. I.
2. Name	Classification
Veterans Affairs
*Conrad, F. B	Administrative Officer, Gr. 4	
Johnston, K. M	Veterans Welfare Officer, Gr. 2 DVA . ..
Stewart, Miss M. B	Stenographer, Gr. 3	
Murray, K. E	Telephone Operator, Gr. 2	
Mahar, R. J	Clerk, Gr. 4	
McCarville, J. F	Clerk, Gr. 3	
MacDonald, P. J. A	Messenger	
Donovan, C. T	Clerk, Gr. 2A	
MacMahon, Miss N. E. P... Stenographer, Gr. 1	
Grant, Miss J. E	Typist, Gr. 2B	
Wonnacott, B. S	Clerk, Gr. 4	
Rogers, A. W	Veterans Welfare Officer, Gr. 1 DVA . ..
Bell, D. N	Asst. Veterans Welfare Officer, DVA ...
Jenkins, W. L	Head Clerk	
Robison, J. T	Principal Clerk	
Moore, Miss A. L. B	Stenographer, Gr. 2A	
Strang, Miss C. A	Stenographer, Gr. 1	
Shanahan, F. J	Investigator, DVA, Gr. 2	
Machin, S	Investigator, DVA, Gr. 2	
Herrell, Miss K. G	Stenographer, Gr. 1	
Kennedy, Dr. R. H	Medical Officer, Gr. 5	!!!.!!
Kitson, W. W	Cleaner and Helper	
Morris, J. R	Clerk, Gr. 4	' ''Harper, I. J	Clerk, Gr. 3	' 'Lowther, N. W	Pensions Advocate, VA, Gr. 3 part timeCoady, Miss J. E	Stenographer, part time	
Canadian Pension Commission
MacNeill, Dr. R. D	Medical Officer, Gr. 5	
Walker, C. E	Clerk, Gr. 4	| ''
Kays, Miss F. H	Stenographer, Gr. 2B	
Annual
Salary



$ 4,956 4,272 2,496 1.884 2,772 2.568 1.884 1.884 1,668 2,292 2.904 4.080 3,576 4.080 3,444 2,088 1,668 2.568 2.568 1,668 5,208 2,160 2.904 2.568 2,700 5,820 2,772 2,292 HOUSE OF COMMONS

[Stage Direction]
Questions
War Veterans Allowance Act Other than the chairman and members of the war veterans allowance board, the staff is provided by the department. Functions under the War Veterans Allowance Act, 1946, are decentralized to district offices of the
Name
department. The persons whose names are preceded by an asterisk in the list under "veterans affairs" are, among their other duties, specifically detailed to deal with the processing and adjudication of cases under the said act.
Annual Salary
Classification
Veterans Land Act
Campbell, E. W	Settlement Officer, Gr. 4	
Kennedy, F. G	Settlement Officer, Gr. 2	
Henry, W. A	Clerk, Gr. 4	
Lacey, J. G	Clerk, Gr. 3	
MacKinnon, Mrs. S. A	Stenographer, Gr. 2B	
Campbell, Miss A. B	Stenographer, Gr. 1	
Shaw, Miss L. M	Typist, Gr. 1	
MacDonald, V. L	Supervisor, Construction, Gr. 2
Campbell, N. D	Settlement Officer, Gr. 2	
Haywood, W. E	Settlement Officer, Gr. 2	
Martin, R. M	Settlement Officer, Gr. 2	
Dixon, W. H	Settlement Officer, Gr. 2	
Martin, A. W	Settlement Officer, Gr. 2
[Stage Direction]
ARCTIC SHIP "c. n. HOWE"-QUESTION AS TO LOAN TO AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
Mr. Coldwell:: 1.	Has the government lent the Canadian arctic ship, the C. D. Howe, to the Australian government for antarctic exploration?
2.	If so (a) what is the date of her departure; (b) what is the date of her return; (c) is she manned by her Canadian officers and crew; (d) what are the terms of any agreement regarding the use of the ship and payment of the crew?


Mr. Chevrier:: 1.	No.
2.	See answer to No. 1.



WAGES PAID TO CHARWOMEN IN MONTREAL GOVERNMENT OFFICES

Mr. Dupuis:: 1.	What hourly rate of wages was paid to the
charwomen employed in the government offices at Montreal (a) as at January 1, 1950;	(b) as at
October 1, 1951?
2.	What were the daily working hours of these employees on the above-mentioned dates?


Mr. Fournier (Hull):: 1.	(a) 56 cents per hour, (b) 70 cents per hour.
2.	(a) As of January 1, 1950, the rate of pay was based on 125 hours per month, (b) As of October 1, 1951, the rate of pay was based on 4J hours per day.



FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION-FISHERIES MEETING AT LIMA, PERU-INVITATION TO GOVERNMENT

Mr. Stuart (Charlotte):: 1.	Did the Canadian government or any official of the Department of Fisheries receive an invitation to attend the Latin-American fisheries meeting

of the food and agriculture organization at Lima, Peru, September 17 last?
2.	If so, what official delegate on behalf of Canada attended the meeting?


Mr. MacNaughl:: 1.	No. The Canadian government was notified of the meeting but did not receive an invitation to attend.
2.	Answered by 1.



QUESTIONS PASSED AS ORDERS FOR RETURNS


BUTTER IMPORTS AND CONTRACTS


Mr. Fraser:: 1.	What quantity of butter was imported by the government during the first eight months of 1951?
2.	What additional quantities have been (a) contracted for; (b) optioned, by the government, and when will delivery be made?
3.	What private individuals or firms have been given permits since May 1, 1951, to import butter?
4.	On what date was each permit issued?
5.	What quantities are allowed under these permits in each case?


Mr. Bradley:: Return tabled.



GOVERNMENT-RENTED PROPERTIES IN WINNIPEG, MAN.

Mr. Diefenbaker:: 1.	How many buildings, properties or offices are held under lease or rented by the dominion government in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba?
2.	What has been the total expenditure for such rentals in each of the fiscal years 1949, 1950, and monthly since the 1st of January, 1951?
3.	What are the particulars of each office or building rented in each of said years, from whom and at what monthly or yearly rental in each case?


Frederick Gordon Bradley: Return tabled.



SUBSIDIES, SUBVENTIONS AND REBATES PAID TO DOMINION STEEL AND COAL CORPORATION, 1950

Mr. Gillis:: 1.	Was any money paid by the federal government to the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation for the calendar year 1950?
2.	If so, what amount by way of (a) subsidy; (b) subvention; (c) rebate under the Maritime Freight Rates Act in the operation of the Sydney and Louisburg Railway?



BUTTER OWNED AND IMPORTED BY GOVERNMENT


Mr. Fraser:: 1.	How much Canadian-made butter (a) was owned in Canada by the government on October 1, 1951, and (b) is owned by the government today?
2.	How much imported butter (a) was owned in Canada by the government on October 1, 1951, and (b) is owned by the government today?
3.	How much butter was imported into Canada from July 1, 1951, to date by (a) the government of Canada; (b) private individuals or corporations?
4.	What private individuals or corporations imported this butter and in what volume in each case?



PREFABRICATED ARMY HUTS

Mr. Fraser:: 1.	Did the government or any agency thereof buy pre-fabricated army huts, during the first nine months of 1951?
2.	If so, how many huts did they buy?
3.	From what firms or individuals were these purchased and at what price per hut?
4.	Are these huts now being used or will they be put to use at once?
5.	If not, are they being stored?
6.	If stored, when is it the intention to use them?
7.	Where are they stored?



NATIONAL DEFENCE


[Stage Direction]
On the orders of the day:
John George Diefenbaker: Mr. Speaker, I should like to ask one or two supplementary questions arising out of the answer given by the Minister of National Defence with respect to welfare services.
Is it not so that the national council of Y.M.C.A.'s last November offered to send the necessary auxiliary services to Korea? Is it not also a fact that William R. Dalziel, commissioner of the Salvation Army, has been offering to send over the necessary Salvation Army staff, to the end that the morale and spiritual as well as the canteen requirements of Canadians in Korea would be met? If these offers were made, why were they not accepted?


Brooke Claxton: I would have to verify so as to find out what offers were made. I recall that the Salvation Army did make an offer.
Inquiries of the Ministry I do not recall that the Y.M.C.A. did, but I am not doubting that it did, in view of what the hon. member has said.
I believe the answer I gave is a complete one to the second part of the question. None of the forces, including the American, British, French or others, uses such agencies in Korea. They have found that the geographic and other conditions are such that, under existing circumstances, it is out of the question. That is my information. Consequently we have not seen fit to accept these very generous offers, up to the present time.


Mr. Gordon Churchill (Winnipeg South Centre):: Are the welfare officers which the minister has mentioned engaged in carrying out full regimental duties, or is this welfare work a special job?


Brooke Claxton: It is a special job.



FEED GRAIN


[Stage Direction]
On the orders of the day:
Mr. P. E. Wright (Melfort):: Mr. Speaker, before the orders of the day are called I should like to ask a question of the Minister of Transport. As requested by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture will the government give consideration at this session to introducing permanent legislation on freight rates on feed grain from western to eastern Canada and the Pacific coast, so as to give to the industry a sense of permanency in the matter?


Hon. Lionel Chevrier (Minister of Transport):: Mr. Speaker, I received the hon. member's notice only after I had come into the house. Upon reading it carefully, however, I find that this matter was discussed and studied by the royal commission on transportation. That commission decided not to make any recommendations to the governor in council, in so far as amendments to railway legislation are concerned. The railway bills now before the house do not contain legislation covering the point my hon. friend has raised. However, the royal commission did think that this was a matter of government policy. As the hon. gentleman knows, it is discussed and considered from year to year and when it is decided upon I am sure that the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Gardiner) will announce the policy in the house.

Inquiries of the Ministry PENSIONS



BURNT-OUT VETERANS  REQUEST FOR JOINT STATEMENT REGARDING RIGHT TO APPLY FOR OLD AGE SECURITY

[Stage Direction]
On the orders of the day:
Mr. Stanley Knowles (Winnipeg North Centre):: I wonder if the Minister of National Health and Welfare would discuss with the Minister of Veterans Affairs (Mr. Lapointe) the possibility of making a joint statement, and perhaps publishing or even advertising it in the press, so that it will be crystal clear to burnt-out veterans over 70 years of age just what their status and their rights are under the new old age security legislation. I realize that this matter was discussed the other day, but I am sure that all hon. members are still getting letters which show that there is confusion in the minds of many veterans. It would help a great deal if publicity was given to a clear-cut statement along the lines I have suggested.


Hon. Paul Marlin (Minister of National Health and Welfare):: Steps have been taken
to make it clear that there is no excluded group among those who will receive the benefits under the old age security legislation. 'I have taken careful note of the other portion of my hon. friend's remarks.



FREIGHT RATES


[Stage Direction]
On the orders of the day:
Mr.  W. Chester S. McLure@Queens: Mr. Speaker, on October 18 I asked an important question of the Minister of Transport. No doubt he has the answer and has simply forgotten to advise me thereof.


Lionel Chevrier: The hon. gentleman is quite correct,
as I was just about to rise to give the answer. I apologize to him for having delayed answering this question. The hon. member asked:
For what reason or reasons was the September 15 decision of the board of transport commissioners to change the Prince Edward Island freight rate structure not acceptable to the Canadian National Railways?
I do not know why it was not acceptable, but I do know that the officers of the Canadian National Railways have informed me that they have decided to ask the board of transport commissioners to review and rehear the case. Any party who feels himself aggrieved under the Railway Act may ask the board to review or rehear a case. That is why the Canadian National Railways have asked the board to do this and I understand the case will be heard anew on November 5 next.



SPEECH FROM THE THRONE


[Stage Direction]
The house resumed, from Wednesday, October 24, consideration of the motion of Mr. Robert Cauchon for an address to His Excellency the Governor General in reply to his speech at the opening of the session, and the amendment thereto of Mr. Drew, and the amendment to the amendment of Mr. Cold well.
Mr. R. R. Knight (Saskatoon):: Mr. Speaker, most hon. members of this group who have spoken up to the present have engaged in a discussion of price controls and subsidies in their relation to the Canadian standard of living. Needless to say any improvement in our standard of living will have my hearty support, but I am also interested in a desirable standard of life. I suggest that there is some difference in the significance of the two terms. While a desirable standard of life implies a desirable standard of living, there is still more involved. In addition to food for the body, there is the question of food for the mind. There is implied an opportunity to take advantage of those arts which can add so much to the richness of Canadian life. When future historians look back upon these times they are likely to regard the compiling and publishing of the report of the royal commission on national development in the arts, letters and sciences as being something of an achievement in its contribution to that opportunity.
Implementation of the recommendations contained in that report will not all come at once, because we are first of all a practical people. But the report sets a pattern, and I have no doubt it will have some influence on the moulding of popular opinion in the direction of an adoption of an improved sense of values.
The members of the commission to which I have referred recommended federal aid to Canadian universities, and the government acted quickly upon that recommendation, largely, I expect, because they had already decided to do so before the report was even brought down, thinking, as indeed we all do, that such aid was in the national interest. Improvements in education are always in the national interest. The quality of the citizens of a country depends largely upon the equality of the education which they enjoy. This grant to the universities, if it is nothing more, is at least an acknowledgment by this government that while education is rightly administered under provincial jurisdiction, the quality of education in the provinces is a matter of national concern.
Canadian culture as envisaged in the report will have to be built, not so much upon the

work of the few in the universities but upon the broad base of a better education in the schools attended by the great masses of our youth. Improved facilities in the universities will play a great part in that building, since they will supply for it more and better artisans. The federal aid to the universities now being granted will serve many other purposes, but it could be defended upon the one ground that it will assist in providing more and better teachers for the junior schools.
It is my opinion that it would be in the national interest for the federal government to proceed now to devise the best method to subsidize general and high school education to the end that the quality of education might be improved generally, and that there should be some degree of equalization of educational opportunity for all Canadian children. This implies in no way any desire for uniformity, either of curriculum or of method, nor any interference with the jurisdiction over the education of its youth which each province enjoys by constitutional right. The idea that federal aid as we envisage it implies any degree of federal control is merely a myth. Does any university in Canada operated on a public, private or religious basis refuse to accept this new federal aid on the ground that there is interference by a central authority? Do technical or vocational schools refuse to accept federal grants for the same reason? Does the general public refuse to accept family allowances? 1 think not.
Canada is very far behind many other countries in its support of education by the national treasury. There are, of course, historical reasons for that fact and for certain prejudices which still exist. To the degree that we attain national unity and understanding that prejudice will disappear and I have been pleased to note that the idea of federal aid to education has become and is becoming more and more acceptable to more and more Canadians. In my province, for example, a committee of educators was set up to study the whole matter. Their report, which I would commend to members of this house, has been adopted in its entirety by the Canadian school trustees association, and that larger organization is considering raising funds by means of which to make a further investigation.
I might be asked what I mean by the education which I am advocating. It is a fair question, and one to which there are almost as many answers as there are people to ask the question. Unfortunately many-and 1 say "unfortunately" deliberately-look upon education as a thing which one must obtain in order that one can make a living. It is
94699-31J
The Address-Mr. Knight that of course, but it is much more. In these days of science there is too much emphasis on the vocational and the technical with a neglect of the humanities. With this report in mind, I am thinking today of the cultural side, so for our purposes I will define it as something which develops the personality to the point where its possessor individually enjoys a fuller and more abundant life, irrespective of his vocation, and this in part through an appreciation of what are called, tritely I suppose, the finer things of life. One collective result then should be refinement of taste of the masses of the population and the adoption by them of a higher sense of values. Turning to the report itself, I find as a sort of frontispiece a quotation from the "De Civitate Dei" of St. Augustine reading as follows:
A nation is an association of reasonable beings united in sharing of the things they cherish; therefore, to determine the quality of a nation, you must consider what those things are.
Dr. Wallace, lately of Queen's, and ia man whose name is known to everyone in educational circles in Canada, in a superb essay on the humanities which he submitted to the commissioners when they were making their investigation, defines in part an educated man as one who knows that he can never be truly educated in any final sense, and who has an unquenchable thirst to continue his education. He says that the greatest ally of such a person in this project of self-education is the critical reading of good books.
That brings me to the matter of books in Canada, and to what I think is a practical suggestion with which this house might concern itself. We are not, comparatively speaking, a nation of great readers. There are several reasons for that, but the one which I shall mention today is that the price of books is too high. The government contributes to that condition in so far as federal taxes and duties are applied to such books. University students certainly find the increasingly high price of even the prescribed texts a very great burden. On several occasions I have pleaded with the government to admit duty free books which are ordered and imported from foreign countries by bona fide professors and teachers for reference reading. Only the texts prescribed on regular curricula are so admitted at present. I ask the government to consider these matters, for I do not think that any government anxious as this one has shown itself to be by the investigation that has been conducted, any government anxious to promote culture, should desire to profit at the expense of those in pursuit of it through the purchase of suitable books.
484	HOUSE OF
The Address-Mr. Knight
I find that books for Canadian requirements which are available in Great Britain-and there are not too many of them so available- can under present regulations be imported into this country by the individual purchaser at less cost than he can get them from Canadian publishers. Canadian branches of some, not all, United States publishing houses charge 10 per cent more to their Canadian customers than those same customers would have to pay if they imported the books directly from the United States branch of the same firm. One justification which they advance for that is that the firm looks after the business of paying the duty, and that it is worth something to the Canadian purchaser to have these books available in Canada, advancing the argument that the public should be prepared to subsidize them to the extent of 10 per cent to build up publishing houses in Canada. It is an argument which should be exposed to some scrutiny. Some of the university book stores pay this added price without too much reluctance, but the end result is that the added price is handed on to the student, and university students as a class are ill able to afford such extra cost. I think any subsidization necessary to build up the publishing houses in Canada should certainly not come from that particular source. We must hope that too much time will not elapse before the Canadian demand for better books will increase. That will depend to some degree on increase of population, but it also depends upon the cultivation of the public taste, to which I have already referred, and with it the hope there will be a corresponding increase in the number of notable Canadian authors.
The public taste in reading and for reading is a matter of public concern. One of the first things that I noticed on a recent visit to Great Britain was the great number of book shops, and the great number of books which were on display in the news agents' windows. There one could obtain great numbers of the classics in very cheap editions, and the wealth of literature-and I mean literature-for children was very noticeable indeed, something in which I think we are particularly deficient. I said "literature" and I did not say "trash", although I have no doubt some of that is available too. The point is that the percentage of good literature seemed to me much greater. I wish I could say the same thing of Canada, my own country. The prices of good books, or the new books, are greater than the average man can afford to pay. He does not buy them in any great quantity for that reason. He is not a frequent purchaser. Unfortunately,


however, a substitute for these things is readily at hand and at a lesser cost, the slick American magazines, the movie and sex stories, and the comic books with which our news agencies and drugstore counters are inundated.
Well, you say, after all, for the earnest reader there are always the libraries. Yes, there are in places. Let me tell you that there are only two public libraries in one eastern province. In a neighbouring maritime province, on a visit to that part of the country last month, I found myself in a town said to be one of the wealthiest per capita in the Dominion of Canada. It certainly has beautiful residences. It has a fine high school. I had some time on my hands while I was waiting to catch a train. I left the place where I had slept and I met an old gentleman on the street. I said, "Can you direct me to your public library?" He looked at me in amazement and said there was no such thing. When I questioned him more closely my informant told me that the only books he knew of in town that were available for public use were a few that the I.O.D.E. ladies kept on their shelves and lent to their members. That was all.
In the last parliament I constantly urged upon the government the need to set up some sort of commission for UNESCO which might keep in touch with the international organization and at the same time might be of some encouragement to the arts and letters in the national field. I persisted in that until I realized that the government was quite adamant in its refusal. The categorical statement of the Prime Minister (Mr. St. Laurent) is on the record that the government-at least at the time he made the statement- had no such intention.
I quote from the Hansard report of February 4, 1948, in which the following is found at page 850:


Robert Ross (Roy) Knight: Has the Canadian government made any progress since last session in the matter of setting up a national commission of UNESCO?


Mr. St. Laurent:: No. It has been decided not
to proceed at the present time with the establishment of a national commission for UNESCO.
In their report the commissioners-when I say commissioners I am referring to those distinguished people who drew up the report of the royal commission on arts, letters and sciences-recommended the creation of a body to be known as the Canada council for the encouragement of arts, letters, humanities and social sciences. They recommend also that that body perform the functions of a national commission for UNESCO. I have no objection to the change of emphasis, and I hope the government, which ignored my own

pleadings, will pay heed to and implement the recommendations of its own commission.
Article I of the UNESCO constitution, a charter to which Canada submitted, includes the following:
To develop and maintain mutual understanding and appreciation of the life and culture, the arts, humanities and the sciences of the peoples of the world.
Surely that is in harmony with the objectives which the commission would have us foster. Sir, this speech does not profess to be a survey of the comprehensive report and its recommendations. The preparation of any speech upon that question would be a stupendous task. What I have said is an appeal to the government to bring about the improvement in Canadian culture foreseen by the commission if its recommendations are adopted, and to the degree to which its recommendations are adopted. I appeal to the government specifically to give some attention to the matter of federal aid to education, to give some consideration as to how it may encourage or at least cease to discourage, if you like, serious reading in Canada. Perhaps this could be done by the removal of taxation and duties on books, or by encouragement of the establishment and use of libraries. In so far as the last method is concerned, I would urge that the government begin by creating a national library for Canada.
I have one final comment to make upon the report. May I congratulate the authors upon a fine piece of work from a literary standpoint, and express the hope that the report may take its place on the book shelves of Canadian homes. It is a document which is sure to play an important part in encouraging better standards in Canadian life.


Mr. F. D. Shaw (Red Deer):: Before
proceeding to the main subject, Mr. Speaker, I should like to concur in the observations of the hon. member for Saskatoon (Mr. Knight) and particularly in his repeated demand for federal aid to education in order that we may bring about the equalization of educational opportunity in Canada. We have spoken on this subject before, and our position today is the same. We certainly urge the government to give favourable consideration to this request.
The debate on the address in reply to the speech from the throne has been relegated to a secondary position in relation to the legislation before this parliament. I am convinced, however, that it has not diminished in importance. It is apparent to all of us that the government does not contemplate early action, if any at all, towards meeting the problem of the cost of living, which has
The Address-Mr. Shaw become of such importance to a large segment of our population. We feel that this debate does provide the opportunity of airing our views upon that important subject. May I join with the others in extending my congratulations to the mover (Mr. Cauchon) and seconder (Mr. Simmons). I believe that each acquitted himself in a commendable fashion. May I also join in congratulating the new members, not only upon their election to this house but also upon the excellence of their contributions thus far in the various debates.
It is highly significant to me that every speaker who has taken part in this throne speech debate has either referred to or devoted a considerable portion of his time to the subject, living costs in Canada. It is also significant that both the amendment and subamendment deal with that subject. Undoubtedly this results from the fact that members, both on the government side and the opposition side of the house, fully realize that the government measures designed to reduce the cost of living, or at the very least to hold the line, have not only failed to achieve their objective but have actually combined to force living costs higher. The results of these higher living costs have been plain. The defenceless within our community, namely our old age pensioners, those who are employed but upon fixed incomes, the so-called unorganized white-collar workers, the unorganized manual labourers and others, have suffered a seriously depressed standard of living and have been forced to live even further below a decent standard of living.
Only recently, Mr. Speaker, I saw the policy of the government with respect to price controls categorized by at least one cabinet minister as a policy of moderation and sanity. After all, he is entitled to his interpretation of it. I wish the rules of the house would permit me to put on Hansard what thousands of people across this country call it. I think that would bring us much closer to the heart of the subject than any mere assertion that it represents moderation and sanity, which of course is the opposite of the truth. Some cabinet minister has indicated that controls open the door to dictatorship. I would not deny that, but let us not be unmindful of the fact that we have more controls imposed upon us in this peacetime period than we have ever had imposed upon us in any previous peacetime period.
As far as the government is concerned, it just seems to be a matter of controls which they are opposed to as being dangerous controls, but the many others which they find it possible to bring in by way of the back door are quite all right and in no sense pave

The Address-Mr. Shaw the way for the establishment of dictatorship within the country. The consequence of the condition which has developed among so many of our people as a result of the high cost of living is, in my opinion, that the economic health of the community has certainly worsened. Opposition members seem to realize that this is a fact and they have been saying so during the course of this session. Not only have they been saying so, but they have been urging the government to take appropriate action to salvage that which remains to be salvaged. On the other hand, it seems to have been the designed purpose of government members, when they have said anything-and a good many of them have not said -anything-to take a position strongly in support of government policy. Many of them during the course of this debate have been striving valiantly to paint a picture which, in my opinion, is the complete opposite of the picture which actually exists.
Speaking earlier in this debate the Prime Minister (Mr. St. Laurent) made certain rather interesting observations. In the one case he undertook to convince the members of this house and the people of the country that the average wage in the manufacturing industries will buy more today than ever before. In the second place, he said that the farmers' share of the national income is now higher than ever before. It is true that the Prime Minister presented a rather grand array of statistics; but it is also true that most of those statistics collapsed under careful scrutiny. It is also significant that the industrial workers and the farmers across Canada did not stand up and cheer the Prime Minister's assertion. Obviously they were in no position to agree that it was true. From the evidence placed upon the record or from the statistical information put there by those who have spoken previously, I thought that quite the opposite of the condition described by the Prime Minister is in fact the condition in the country today.
I may say that the Prime Minister made other references. He referred to certain abnormally high inventories and expressed the hope that prices may fall as a consequence of those high inventories. He expressed the belief that possibly the manufacturers might care to take less profits in order to get rid of these accumulated stocks. I wonder if it would be possible for the Prime Minister to concede that possibly certain of these concerns, being fully convinced that prices are going to go higher, are deliberately building up inventories in order to make a killing when prices do go higher.
I cannot forget, Mr. Speaker, that only this fall, when certain strikes took place in the


tobacco industry, the supply of certain brands of cigarettes began to disappear from the shelves of the stores in western Canada. On a certain day-in fact, upon the day that it was announced that the stike had ended- one of the merchants in my town showed me half a dozen packages of cigarettes of a certain brand, and he said: That is all I have. It will not last until tonight but the strange thing was that the two-cent increase in price was announced and on the following morning there came into that town an adequate supply of cigarettes of that brand. They certainly could not have come from the manufacturing concern in that period of time. They moved in from the . wholesale stocks that were available not far away. To my way of thinking that type of action is completely inexcusable. As I say, I wonder whether in some instances those inventories referred to by the Prime Minister are not being built up by certain concerns for exactly the same purpose.
All hon. members, whether they sit on the government side or on the opposition side of this house, know or should know that just before the commencement of this session of parliament a national survey of Canada indicated that Canadians were fairly definite in their assertion that the cost of living was one subject it was hoped that parliament would deal with during this present session. According to this survey, the people of Canada placed this problem ahead of national defence, ahead of the farm problem, ahead of the housing problem, ahead of the whole freight rates question, ahead of old age pensions, ahead of communism and ahead of the St. Lawrence project. In fact, they put it ahead of everything as a subject which this parliament should deal with effectively at this session.
The survey indicated that inflation is of paramount and increasing concern to all populations across the country, regardless of where the people live, of the activities in which they are engaged or of their political affiliations. Even in the rural areas the high cost of living was placed ahead of farm problems as a matter of urgency requiring immediate attention by this house. It is utterly impossible for thousands of our Canadian people to get by on current incomes. While the minister, speaking for the government, has placed some emphasis upon the importance of savings, the records actually reveal that the savings of the majority of the Canadian people are diminishing rapidly at this time. In fact, another survey indicated these rather interesting facts. Of those who expressed their views during this survey, 46 per cent indicated that their savings were lower

today than they were last year; 16 per cent claimed higher savings; 26 per cent claimed the same savings and 12 per cent had no savings whatsoever. Among the upper income groups, lower savings affected 41 per cent; among the middle income groups they affected 50 per cent; among the lower income groups, 44 per cent. Higher savings in the upper income groups were recorded in 26 per cent of the cases; in the middle income groups, in 17 per cent of the cases; and in the lower income groups, in 11 per cent of the cases. In the upper income group, 32 per cent had the same savings; in the middle income group, 28 per cent had the same savings; and in the lower income group, 20 per cent had the same savings. According to this survey, the lower savings resulted in 29 per cent of the cases through general conditions; in 10 per cent from personal circumstances; in 6 per cent from a combination of both, and 1 per cent did not know what had caused the lowering of the savings. The total with lower savings represented 46 per cent of the Canadian population.
To me that represents a rather serious situation, especially when you give consideration to the high percentage among the lower income groups who have no savings.
In the speech from the throne it was asserted that-and I was astonished at this assertion-
The anti-inflationary measures already in force have checked the upward trend of prices of goods and services affected by their operation.
There was no evidence to prove that fact. And having regard to what we all know to be a fact, it is no wonder to me that my leader, the hon. member for Peace River (Mr. Low), was obliged to say this in reference to the assertion, as reported at page 52 of Hansard:
The last part of the paragraph X quoted from His Excellency's address is, I think, a complete misstatement of the fact. The fiscal measures to combat inflation which were adopted by the government have been a dismal failure in so far as controlling prices is concerned. Since the Minister of Finance (Mr. Abbott) announced the first of these fiscal measures, the cost of living index has zoomed up no less than 18-1/10 points. That, it seems to me, ought to be evidence enough that the government's fiscal measures have failed utterly to check the steady rise in consumer prices, much less to bring prices under control.
It is a fact that certain aspects of the antiinflation program have contributed directly to higher selling prices, as well as to the highest cost of living index in our history. A case in point is Mr. Abbott's commodity taxes. He gives them that genteel name "commodity tax," but the fact is that they are hidden taxes. They are known by such names as the sales tax, the excise tax, and perhaps customs duties. By applying these taxes at the manufacturers' level the government pushed prices up. And that is not all; in many cases they pyramided prices beyond all reason.
The Address-Mr. Shaw
I say, Mr. Speaker, that that sentence contained in the speech from the throne compelled my leader to make that assertion. I once again repeat, I am very much surprised that such a statement ever did appear in the speech from the throne.
Having said that, the hon. member for Peace River then went on to analyse the effect of certain tax increases imposed in the 1951 budget. Speaking of the sales tax he said on October 15, as reported at page 52 of Hansard:
A look at the progressive rise in the cost of living index shows that immediately after the introduction of the 1951 budget, that is during the months of May, June and July when the budget provisions were being applied to the Canadian economy, the cost of living index rose by 7 points. The excise tax increases and the 25 per cent increase in the sales tax provided the main pressure for the price rise during those months; I think there is no question about it.
Whenever one reads today of any change in prices, is that change reflected in a downward or an upward revision? I would say that in 85 per cent of the cases it is a move upward rather than downward. Certainly I think the next cost of living report will indicate a continued trend in that direction, which will be further confirmation of the fact that the government's policy has not only failed to arrest prices, but has caused them to move further upward.
Speaking in the house on October 18, the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance placed very strong emphasis upon the place that indirect taxes played, as he said, in combating inflation. He underlined what he characterized as the courage of the government in utilizing that tax to halt inflation. I was surprised. When the Minister of Finance advised this house last spring that he was going to increase the sales tax by 25 per cent to procure approximately $100 million he at no time referred to inflation. He did not at any time refer to the fact that they might be taking this action in order to arrest the upward movement of prices. He came to this house and said that in order to procure the additional $100 million to enable him to balance his budget he had to look around for another source of revenue. He went on and gave several reasons why he included the 25 per cent increase of sales tax to provide $100 million. When the parliamentary assistant refers to the courage of the government or of the minister in increasing the sales tax because of the fact that it might stop the upward movement of prices he is making an assertion that is certainly not founded on fact at all. It was just a cold, hard method of extracting $100 million which the government has never required. Right

The Address-Mr. Shaw now they are operating on a $513 million surplus. We told them at that time that they did not require this additional 25 per cent increase in the sales tax in order to secure the revenues they needed. I repeat, we argued that the additional revenue would not be required. Let me say at this point that I am not one of those who are going to castigate any minister for having operated with a surplus at the end of his fiscal year. Certainly I think that would be a desirable objective; but in times like these it is extrerpely difficult, if not impossible, for me to agree that the government was justified in any sense of the word in increasing the sales tax as they did, and certain other indirect taxes, which pyramided prices, in order to build up the $513 million surplus in the first six months of the fiscal year.
Some governments give me the impression that they like inflation. Why? Well, in this case it could be to enable them to pay off a colossal national debt which they built up during the war as a result of a completely stupid method of financing. The public are beginning to feel right now that they are being taken for a tax ride. I say that, Mr. Speaker, not because of my own thinking, although if I were to take a moment to think about it I would probably agree. Many newspapers across the country are reflecting this view today. I am going to quote only a very short reference to it from the Vancouver Province. This was reprinted in the Albertan, a Calgary paper, on October 16:
Canadians are beginning seriously to doubt the necessity of heavy taxes piled on them by Ottawa. We pay our taxes as well as the next man as long as we feel money is really needed. But the tax figures coming out of Ottawa make us feel that we are being taken for a ride.
That sentiment is being expressed in a great many parts of this country. I am going to repeat what I said a few moments ago. We are absolutely convinced that the government's policy of trying to curb inflation through its policies pursued up to the present time has failed and failed dismally. It has resulted in much consternation and confusion among our Canadian people. The London Free Press referred to this matter editorially. This was reprinted in the Prince Albert paper on October 16. They refer to it in this way:
So tremendous is the expenditure on defence projects and so antiquated is the parliamentary system of checking such expenses that it is difficult indeed for the citizen to form any fair picture of the adequacy or even extent of these expenditures, let alone whether the money is well, spent. We cannot say what would have happened had other policies been pursued but we can see stains in our own structure. We can see spots of unemployment in what should be a tight manpower picture . . . plants closed down when their products are needed,
[Mr. Shaw.l
without their being converted to defence projects -housing falling off at a time when the need for accommodation is still great as a result of the policy to curb inflation. But we see no signs that the price level is diminishing.
I might say, with reference to this question of unemployed, that I was startled to observe within the last day or so that we have 134,000 registered unemployed in the country; and I dare say I would not be far from the fact if I were to say there is an equal number who are not registered. These 134,000 are employable unemployed. It is also significant to observe that unemployment has occurred most noticeably in those industries producing the commodities hit hardest by the minister when he applied those iniquitous hidden taxes. Yet the tragic part of the whole matter is that certain of these manufacturing concerns have either closed or cut down to half-time production. Apparently the government has been giving them no encouragement and no direction, so far as reverting to the production of so-called essentials is concerned.
The speech from the throne indicates that every measure-
*-will be taken which my ministers believe will be effective in counteracting inflation without impairing our free institutions.
I do not want to see our legitimate free institutions impaired. But I would say this, that while failing to combat inflation the government should indicate at the present time exactly what it proposes to do in this respect. Not only that, but government policy today and the effects of that policy are doing as much to impair many of our smaller free institutions in this country as any other single factor of which I am aware. All one has to do is to associate with a small businessman in a small community to see what is happening to so many of them, as the result of government policy.
My leader has emphasized in clear and unmistakable language that we do feel certain that very specific things could and should be undertaken, without delay. He recommended the overhaul of our taxation structure, and he recommended the reduction of some and the elimination of other taxes, where it can be proven that those taxes cause the pyramiding of prices. He referred to those inducements it is still possible for us to hold out to producers within the country to produce a greater quantity of desired commodities. He stressed the importance of consumer discounts-subsidies if you like in meeting this problem. He also urged that, if and when the government finds it desirable or necessary to borrow, it should not add to the national debt by borrowing from the chartered banks. He advocated a wise policy

designed to control monopolies and cartels, and advocated also a wise investment policy.
But we went one step further-and I am going to quote the hon. member for Peace River, so that there will be no mistaking our position. This is what he said:
It is our conviction too that as long as we continue to operate under the present financial and economic system this country cannot maintain a condition of full employment, even in peacetime, without some price control arrangements. Until proper financial and economic reforms are established in Canada to take care of the situation on a long-term basis, it may be necessary to adopt certain price controls, as has been advocated by both opposition speakers who have preceded, me this afternoon. We would support such a temporary measure, and note that I say "temporary."
It was indicated by an hon. member who spoke earlier in the debate that our position had changed in this respect since 1948. In that connection I would refer to what was said by the hon. member for Kootenay West (Mr. Herridge). In his speech the hon. member quoted from page 1606 of Hansard for March 21, 1947, and read where my leader had indicated that we were opposed to controls designed to restrict production. We are still opposed to those controls that restrict production. The hon. member said that we were opposed to planned controls which enhance the power of the state at the expense of the liberties of individuals in Canada. That is true; we still take that position.
I could refer to the entire passage quoted by the hon. member for Kootenay West and in so doing indicate to him that our position today, when we advocate certain temporary controls to meet the present emergency, is not in conflict with the position we took at that time.
The amendment to the amendment now before us does indicate a change in the position of the hon. member for Kootenay West, because on February 7 of this year his party moved the following amendment:
That the following words be added to the amendment immediately after the words "rising cost of living" in the last line thereof:
"such as the immediate reimposition of price controls,-
Comma; the punctuation is very important-
-and the payment of subsidies where necessary,
Comma-
-so as to protect the health and living standards of the Canadian people.
The amendment to the amendment they have moved on this occasion is in these words;
That the amendment be amended by adding thereto, immediately after the words "high cost of living," the following words:
such as the making of provision for price controls and the payment of subsidies,-
The Address-Mr. Shaw
Comma-
-where necessary,-
Comma-
-so as to equalize the sacrifices our people are called upon to make at this time.
They are not now asking for a reimposition of price controls, which would have embraced all those wartime controls. They are now advocating price controls and the payment of subsidies, both where necessary-and that is the meaning I take from the punctuation. However in the previous instance it is clear from the punctuation that they asked for the payment of subsidies only where necessary-not controls only where necessary. I mention that in passing. If one wishes to point out any specific changes in position, then one sees it in this instance within the course of a year.
The amendment now moved by the official opposition represents nothing more than a reaffirmation of what is actually contained in the speech from the throne. I was disappointed that it was so insipid, so weak. After all, I can, appreciate the reason for their taking that position. They are hoping that some members opposite will find it possible to support the amendment. I do not know by what method of thinking they guided themselves into that position. I can tell the official opposition that members supporting the government will not support them, no matter what amendment is offered. The official opposition might as well have come out and said what it thought. That is the purpose of an amendment. In any case the amendment is insipid. It does not mean much and it will not achieve for the official opposition the objective they had hoped to attain.
Then, one or two other matters to which I should like to make reference. For the moment I shall leave the speech from the throne. I would refer first to the announcement made by the Minister of Veterans Affairs (Mr. Lapointe) that consideration is soon to be given to war veterans pensions. I certainly appreciate the position he has taken in that respect. I had intended to say a good deal about it. However, at the moment I shall not do more than express the hope that the government's recommendation will be in keeping with the request of the Canadian Legion. I trust, consequently, that even Liberal members will be on guard to see that the government does not introduce in the Pension Act the principle of the means test. From what took place last spring I am fearful that this may happen. I shall not take time to quote the minister in that connection, but it is my fear that there may be a move designed to introduce

The Address-Mr. Shaw that principle. My colleagues and I shall fight to the bitter end if that is attempted.
I am happy that consideration is being given to the plight of the recipients of war veterans allowances, but I regret action is being deferred so long. Of the two groups, namely the pensioners and the recipients of war veterans allowances, the latter group is in a more desperate position today. In other words those who receive war veterans allowances, or who should receive them, are in a more difficult position than actual pensioners under the Pension Act. I regret that action to assist these old vets who are under war veterans allowance is being deferred until some time next year. I had hoped that some action would be taken immediately.
As has been indicated many times before, a considerable number of Canadian boys are now in Korea. Whether or not from a wholly technical point of view Canada is at war, let us not forget that these boys are fighting over there under conditions which at times are more ghastly than those encountered in world war II. Many of the boys in Korea are veterans of world war II. They have served their country twice within a very short period of time.
The fact is that in many respects we are doing less for these boys than we did for those who served in world war II. In many cases these men have left behind wives and children. I know personally many married men who served in world war II and then went to Korea not knowing that inflation was going to cut so deeply into the allowances their wives would receive, not realizing that we would not do for them what we had done for the men who served in world war II, namely, set up a dependents allowance board to grant financial aid to wives faced with special emergencies in the way of illness and so on.
Many of these wives are in a desperate position today. They can hardly meet the ordinary day to day cost of living, and they cannot meet hospital or doctor bills. The welfare officer in Red Deer has passed along cases to me where hospital or doctor bills simply could not be paid. Somebody may say that the city of Red Deer should pay these, but after all this is not the war of the city of Red Deer any more than it is the war of any other city in Canada. The city should not have to meet these costs. The government should see to it that a dependents allowance board is set up immediately, to make special assistance available to the dependents of these men now serving in Korea and of those who will be with our forces on the continent of Europe. I feel sure every hon. member of this house would

support such a move. Surely it is the least we could do for these men who have enough to contend with without having to worry themselves almost frantic over whether or not their wives and children are going to be put out of the dwellings in which they happen to be living, or who may have action taken against them because of inability to meet accounts.
I ithink the first Canadian casualty in the Korean war was a man from my constituency. Not so long ago the mother land father of this man oamte to see me, and the mother complained that she had been insulted. I was most anxious to find out why. This lad had served in world war II and had been killed in Korea. The mother said that apparently they could not send her his personal possessions for reasons which they did not give, but they did send her one Korean bank note which I presume had been found in his pocket. She said, "To me that constituted an absolute insult. Surely the men in the department know better than to do that sort of thing?" There is another small coin fixed in here with scotch tape.
We did not know why she did not get the other personal possessions. I rather fancy that if they had been taken from the body they would have seen to it that this money was removed also. This thing never should have happened, and I should like to have an explanation from some government official as to why they sent that note to the mother. The only thing that would have made it worse was for the note to be blood-flecked. I assume Mr. Speaker you have allowed me to exceed my time, for which I am most grateful.
(Translation):


Mr. Leon Balcer (Three Rivers):: Mr. Speaker, I want first to congratulate the mover and seconder of the address in reply to the speech from the throne. The mover, the hon. member for Beauharnois (Mr. Cauchon), made a splendid speech although, unfortunately, I cannot endorse what he said. That, however, does not prevent me from admiring his high-class delivery. As for the hon. member for Yukon-Mackenzie River (Mr. Simmons), I may say that he also made a wonderful contribution to this debate. One is always much interested in listening to the hon. member not only because of his eloquence but also because he happens to represent a new district which we hardly know, very few of us ever having been there. Let us hope that this deserving new part of our country will soon be developed without undue delay.
In taking part in this debate on the address in reply to the speech from the throne, I wish

to call the attention of all hon. members to a few matters which, at the present time, are of concern to the people of this country and more particularly to those in my own constituency of Three Rivers.
The most important matter is undoubtedly the high cost of living. This inflation which affects all classes of society and especially people in the lower income brackets becomes more and more alarming month after month. Everything or nearly everything costs more than the previous months, food, clothing, furniture, fuel, medical care, newspapers, etc. And yet, none of the items I mentioned may be considered as luxuries. On the contrary, they are essential to every member of the family without exception.
Today, housewives have to do miracles to feed their children properly. In many cases, they have to forgo quite a number of food items which are essential to their health.
Meat has become so great a luxury that, in a large number of butcher shops, counters and refrigerators are practically empty, not because butchers cannot obtain meat, but simply because it is useless for them to do so, since the people do not buy any.
Again I urge the government to prohibit immediately all meat exports to the United States, so that the price of beef, for instance,-which is a basic food,-may return to a level that would be commensurate with the income of the average Canadian, while still enabling western cattle breeders to make a reasonable profit. As long as we export our meat to the United States where salaries are much higher than in Canada, our fellow citizens will have to go without meat or pay excessive prices.
Our choicest meat is sent across the border and horse meat is the only kind available at reasonable prices in Canada.
The situation is such today that it costs less to buy beef from cattle slaughtered in Argentina, exported to Britain and tinned there, then re-exported to Canada, than to buy beef from our own Canadian west. This is a ridiculous situation. The government is duty-bound to act and to leave no stone unturned in order to put an end to it.
The government seems shocked whenever anybody calls for price controls. We are immediately told that these controls are antidemocratic and contrary to all those principles of free enterprise which are the very foundation of our economy.
94699-32J
The Address-Mr. Balcer
Nevertheless our neighbours to the south have managed to halt the march of inflation in their country whereas, here, prices continue to rise. Yet, if ever a country was dedicated to free enterprise, it is the United States! It is the country whose economy exerts the greatest influence on our own. I will not claim they have found a magic formula that has rolled back prices to their 1939 level, but their government, realizing the menace of inflation, has, at any rate, tried something. Their problem is doubtless not entirely solved, but we must admit that they have had more success than we have.
Of course, the price of some goods is higher than in this country, but any of our workers who have worked in American factories know to what extent wages there are higher than those received by Canadian workers.
In the speech from the throne, mention was made of the government's concern about this problem. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the present session, neither the legislation the government have submitted to this house nor any legislation they have placed on the order paper indicates that our leaders intend doing a great deal to provide a solution.
As long as the value of our dollar continues to drop, our people will suffer and will have to tighten their belts. Today our dollar is worth about one half of its 1939 value. I believe the situation to be serious enough to cause the government to sit up and. take notice.
As a solution to the rising cost of living, the government have decided to overtax the people at the rate of $2 million a day. And yet, no one could say that the Canadian taxpayer has been spared by the present government during these last few years.
The other means taken by our leaders were hardly fairer; they went after two or three industries, at the most, and soon had them on the spot.
First the automobile industry, and then the refrigerator and electric stove industries were hit hard. Due to the unduly harsh credit restrictions laid down by the government, these industries were forced to lay off part of their employees. All over the country, garages are glutted with new cars which cannot be sold on account of the government's credit restrictions. And in all our towns and villages electrical appliance dealers are on the verge of bankruptcy.
492	HOUSE OF
The Address-Mr. Balcer
Finally, another means the government has found to meet the rising cost of living is the setting up of an additional cigarette tax- truly an unduly high tax. I submit that the government is now inducing the Canadian people to become the greatest smugglers in the world.
In fact, the foolish tax that this government has imposed and is still collecting on cigarettes made in Canada is an unparalleled inducement to smuggling.
Today, over seven Canadians out of ten smoke illegally imported American-made cigarettes.
This figure may seem exaggerated but I have it from an R.C.M.P. officer who is well acquainted with the matter; in fact, should an inventory be made of the cigarettes in the pockets of the members of this house at this very moment, I would not be surprised if the proportion were about the same. It is a foolish and illogical situation.
As long as a 25 cent tax is levied on a package of 20 cigarettes, that is, more than the total cost of a package of American cigarettes, it is useless to hope that smuggling will diminish.
This illogical tax hits very hard not only our tobacco growers and processors but also all the small tobacco stores in the country. So much so, I have been told, that storekeepers in the small towns situated near the American border do not even bother to keep Canadian cigarettes in stock.
I sincerely believe that if the government were to reduce substantially the tax on cigarettes, its revenue would increase through the larger sales of Canadian cigarettes. While American cigarette companies enjoy a new market in Canada, our own government is losing revenue, and a Canadian industry, which deserves as well as any the right to exist, is severely hit.
Now, Mr. Speaker, in connection with an altogether different matter, I wish to raise again a question which is very important to the youth of my province.
I wish to repeat the requests I made during the last session to the effect that the Department of National Defence should establish without further delay a French-Canadian military academy, so that the young people who speak the same tongue as I do may enjoy


the same opportunity as their English-speaking fellow citizens.
What I request from the Department of National Defence is not preferential treatment for the young French-speaking Canadians but, strictly and simply, the right to be treated, in serving their country, on the very same level as their English-speaking fellow citizens.
Everyone knows that the number of French-speaking superior officers in the general staffs of the army, navy and air force is very limited. Their influence there is practically nil.
The government continues to spend huge amounts on press and radio recruiting campaigns but the best method available to the Department of National Defence is to be logical, to adopt towards French-Canadians a policy that will make them feel they are really wanted in the three armed services of the country.
One third of our people are French-speaking. Can the Minister of National Defence (Mr. Claxton) believe in the success of his recruiting campaigns when the proportion of French-Canadian officers above the rank of major, lieutenant-commander, or squadron leader, is but 5 or 6 per cent?
All I ask on behalf of young Frenchspeaking Canadians is an opportunity to develop and show their ability to become good officers so that if the minister is asked why there is not a single French-Canadian on the navy staff he will not say that they are not qualified.
Newspapers tell us that the Department of National Defence has just opened a school for naval recruits at Quebec. They will spend six months there to learn English before they are sent to Cornwallis, where they will begin their training as ordinary seamen at the same time as other new recruits of the country.
Under present circumstances, such a period of training in English is undoubtedly necessary, but the fact remains that those new recruits have to spend six months of their time there, without being able to count that time towards future promotion. At the end of their training, why could not those young men be assigned to French-Canadian naval units, just as army recruits are posted to such regiments as the 22nd or the Fusiliers Mont-Royal?

Does the minister believe that it would be impossible to set up French-Canadian naval units? Yet, there were French-Canadian units in the army and in the air force during the war. All agree that even if certain problems arose from time to time, those units on the whole were a great cause of satisfaction.
I remember personally having seen often during the last war Belgian, Norwegian, Free French corvettes, Polish and Dutch destroyers, etc., escorting numerous Canadian or British convoys, and very efficiently, contributing to the success of our allies' war effort.
Mr. Speaker, I hope the minister will soon carry out the necessary changes because this matter is of paramount importance especially in these troubled times when all young Canadians, regardless of race, are being asked to serve in the armed forces of this country for the survival of our institutions and our democracy and for the greater benefit of our beloved Canada.
(Text):


Mr. Maurice Boisvert (Nicolei-Yamaska):: At the outset of my remarks, Mr. Speaker, I am glad to join with the others who have taken part in this debate in congratulating both the mover (Mr. Cauchon) and seconder (Mr. Simmons) of the address in reply to the speech from the throne. I am doing so even if my words do not add much to the weight of the compliments they were paid, and which they so well deserved. They performed their tasks in such high spirits and with such ability that it is superfluous to try to increase the admiration which they have received both in this house and outside. What I have said applies with equal sincerity to the hon. members for Brandon (Mr. Dinsdale) and Winnipeg South Centre (Mr. Churchill) on their maiden speeches in this house. These speeches were so fine that no comment of mine could amplify their success.
For a long time I have entertained a sincere desire to take part in a debate using the language of the majority of my colleagues. Today I am taking that risk, fully realizing that I shall benefit from the indulgence and patience of all hon. members. I should ask also for the consent of this house to use my notes. I intend to approach, with great diffidence, some of the matters mentioned in the speech from the throne. First I intend to comment upon our rearmament.
Since the opening of this session the international situation, and our policy with regard to it, have been weighing heavily upon us.
The Address-Mr. Boisvert His Excellency the Governor General, in his prorogation address, touched upon nine topics of international scope and consequence for us. Five sections of the speech from the throne are dedicated to our international relations. This indicates that as a member of the family of nations Canada is faced with problems which grow more complex and more difficult every day. In our time it has become true that the fate of a country is never decided at home. Dragged into the swirl of politics and policies of other countries, nations are no longer the masters of their fate. They must be prepared to meet, and meet quickly, events which they have neither desired nor prepared, but which they must face with courage because on their reaction depends peace or war, prosperity or disaster. This state of affairs in the world calls for constant attention on the part of those who serve the country, and who have the burden of maintaining peace and security. We must keep an open mind in order to understand the problem, and attack it according to the will of our people. Our deeds will be looked upon by those who will come after us in the light of the love we have borne our country.
To prevent war, if need be at the cost of the greatest sacrifices, must be foremost in our conscience. Conscious of our responsibility before mankind threatened with destruction, we must employ all our faculties in the cause of peace. One of the means of assuring peace is to rearm the nations in whom we may have confidence, and who would be able to fight aggression far from our shores.
Let no one repeat the mistakes which preceded and followed the famous Munich pact. A reading of the memoirs of all those who played a part in the last war teaches us that the democratic countries completely failed in the task of rearming their allies. War materials sent too late to Poland had to be diverted to Beyrouth. Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia complained that the promises of war material never materialized. The spectre of war appeared and the democracies ran from it. What was true of the small nations was true also of the great ones. In 1939 England was not ready to send its armies to the continent, nor was France ready to attack Germany from the west in order to help Poland. Had that been done, it might have deterred Russia from its alliance with Germany. The United States had promised war material to France, but was so late in sending it that part was sent back, part was taken by the enemy, and part was lost through sabotage. I am urging the government, if I may be permitted to do so, to take all means at its disposal to accelerate Canada's defence

The Address-Mr. Boisvert objectives, that is, the implementation of any undertaking made by Canada under the charter of the United Nations, under the North Atlantic treaty or any other agreement for collective security. Those words were used in the white paper on Canada's defence program. There are good reasons for being on the alert.
Today the Chinese people rise against the democracies; religious fanaticism flares in the Middle East; war continues in Korea; there is trouble in Iran and Indo-China; Egypt rises against Great Britain. All this is part of the strategy to limit the possible action of the democracies in the event that Russia decides to throw the world into a general war. It would be a mistake to underestimate Russia. May I quote the statements of some of the leaders of the U.S.S.R. concerning Russia's minerals and resources. Referring to the mines of the Urals, Stalin said:
The Ural mountains contain such an accumulation of riches that it is impossible to find a similar one in any other country.
On another occasion he is reported to have said:
So far as natural and mineral resources are concerned we are absolutely safe.
In his report to a soviet of the workers' deputies of Moscow in 1944 Stalin wrote:
The economical basis of the soviet states has proven to be infinitely more likely to survive than that of enemy states.
About agriculture, G. Kirov has said:
There is no land that, if in the clever hands of the Soviets, could not contribute to the happiness of humanity.
A Russian writer who knows his country quite well wrote as follows in 1946:
The greatness of a country, its capacity to live and develop freely, its ability to protect that freedom from its enemies are based primarily on its industrial might. A country where industry is weak and lagging behind cannot conveniently equip its soldiers, feed its arsenals and offer a long resistance to invasion by a strong enemy.
From the trend of thought shown by those quotations it is clear that outside Russia and her satellites, the rest of the world is the enemy of the people's government of the U.S.S.R. Let us also bear in mind that the mills, the manufactures, the lands and the underground are the property of the state in Russia; the economic life is the state's responsibility. If we take into account the fact that the U.S.S.R. ranks first in iron ore, manganese, chromium, apatite, potassium and peat resources and second in coal and nickel, we have every reason to fear her attitude. In control of her capital and natural resources, served by a population greatly elated by the transformation of their country within so short a period of time, we may rest assured


that the morale of the soldiers and workers in the Soviet is far above what we may think. Let us not delude ourselves in this respect. Russia's propagandists have the capacity to raise to a paroxysm the enthusiasm of the Russian people.
But the powerful armaments needed and their cost to the nations who manufacture them are one cause of inflation, among many others. Inflation is the ransom of our armaments built up for the protection of our country and the freedom of the whole world. When the locomotive was invented, it contributed to the development of countries, the exploitation of the land and the transportation of goods. When guns are manufactured at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece, we are not producing consumer goods but goods for destruction. The money they cost was placed on the market, but without any corresponding increase of consumer goods. The United States intends to spend ten billion dollars on atomic energy and atomic weapons. These do not increase the amount of consumer goods on the market, yet those ten billions of dollars will be paid for raw materials and the wages of the employees of such developments. It is easy to see then that our armaments production places in circulation formidable amounts of money. This money is used to satisfy the essential needs of life, and also to buy nonessential products. If there are not goods and products in quantities to correspond to the buying power of the people, it becomes inflation. If there are and they are kept scarce voluntarily by some people to bring the prices higher and higher, it becomes exploitation of the people.
This account justifies a definition of inflation which I read in a recent published pamphlet on this vital question:
Inflation is an increase in the total supply of money which people have and want to spend that is greater than the supply of goods available for them to purchase.
Considering the scope of the problem, we were pleased to read in the speech from the throne:
The concern of our people over the rising cost of living resulting from internatio'nal and domestic inflationary pressures is fully shared by the government. Every measure will be taken which my ministers believe will be effective in counteracting inflation without impairing our free institutions. The anti-inflationary measures already in force have checked the upward trend of prices of goods and services affected by their operation.
What is true for our country goes for all other countries of the world. There is no doubt that Russia and its satellites suffer from inflation just as do the United States and Canada. That does not cure our ailment; and our ailment is very serious. The problem of the democracies on the international level

is threefold: (1) the rearmament of our allies; (2) financing the agricultural, industrial and commercial development of countries with large populations whose economy is not as up to date as ours; (3) ensuring our military and civil defence.
We are bound by the United Nations charter to tackle those tremendous problems even if they are closely related to this cancer of prosperity which is called inflation. Inflation has always existed in -all climates and at all times, yet not on a world scale. Today all political and economic phenomena are on a world scale. It is no longer possible to live in isolation from the rest of the world. What I have just said has been said before. In 1870, Lord Carnarvon, a great friend of our country, said before the House of Commons of Great Britain:
If the object of our whole national life is to become the mere workshop of the world, to give no hostages to fortune, to run no risk, to incur no liabilities, but merely to accumulate money, well: but no nation, any more than an individual, can afford to live a selfish life, wrapping itself up in its own miserable interest. If it does it will inevitably come to disaster abroad and discredit at home-it will lose alike the respect of others and its own.
In 1921 Tagore, the great Indian poet and mystic, an exponent of union between the east and the west, wrote:
Today's problem is world wide. No country can survive in getting free from the others. Let's be saved together or perish together.
The world governs our relations, whereas until the beginning of our century it was left to certain great powers dominating certain continents to regulate the course of events in the world. By liberating continents, by freeing peoples, by calling upon the masses to play their part, we have to associate with them for good or evil in a new economy. This new economy has created innumerable needs and new obligations on the part of young peoples and nations, with consequences we were unable to foretell on the life and development of each nation in particular. Our contemporary world has evolved so fast that it has been impossible to keep pace with the progress and action. Considering inflation in the palish light in which it appears in our country, we might say that inflation is a form of cancer of wealth just as economic depression is a tuberculosis of wealth. Inflation which is marked by a rise in wages and prices is better known by its effects than by its causes and forms.
Let me mention a few facts:
1.	From January 1, 1950, to March 1, 1951, the cost of living went up about 18 points, the index being 161 on January 1, 1950, and nearly 190 on September 1, 1951.
The Address-Mr. Boisvert
2.	The agricultural labour force has declined 10 per cent during the last five years.
3.	The average number of working hours has fallen below 43 hours per week.
4.	In 1950 personal expenses for essential 'products and services have increased by 7
per cent by comparison with 1949.
5.	A curtailment of savings indicated that personal spending had increased, and personal savings have a tendency to decrease. Savings in 1950 were 30 per cent lower than in 1949. In dollars, Canadians saved $270 million less than in 1949. I could continue this series of facts that imprint the marks of inflation on the face of world economy.
We could ask ourselves where we are going; let us find instead where we come from. In 1950 our gross national production reached $17,800 million; it was only $12,008 million in 1946. This percentage of increase runs as follows: in 1947, by comparison with 1946, 13-7 per cent; in 1948, by comparison with 1947, 13-5 per cent; in 1949, by comparison with 1948, 3-7 per cent; in 1950, by comparison with 1949, 7-9 per cent. If we now examine our gross national production in relation to the dollar value in 1939 we find that in 1950 our gross national production amounted to $9,809 million and the percentage of its increase in 1950 over 1949 was only 4 per cent. This difference in round figures would be $7,600 million.
This $7,600 million represents inflation and corresponds to the decrease in value of the Canadian dollar. This shows that if the value of our dollar had remained stable our gross national production since 1946 would have increased by only 10-9 per cent. During the same period the population of Canada rose from 12,307,000 to 13,838,000 in round figures, showing an increase of 1,538,000. As the industrial labour force has increased by 12 per cent during the same period, we must conclude that our gross national production has not increased in keeping with the increase in population. This is where inflation becomes a grave menace if it is allowed to continue too long.
We can realize at this stage that inflation is not the result of government policy, but that the psychology of the masses must be responsible for it. Individuals in the state create inflation, although it is the duty of a government facing that evil to fight it as soon as possible. It will be unable to act unless individuals do their part and realize at once that they themselves hold the cure for this ailment they have created. The hon. member for Greenwood (Mr. Macdonnell) came

The Address-Mr. Boisvert quite close to the source of that ailment when he said at page 2044 of Hansard of the first session of 1951:
There were great problems in wartime but there was also an awareness in men's minds of the tremendous events that they were living through and' an acceptance of the challenge in terms of effort, of sacrifice, of courage and forbearance. Today, we have almost the same danger but not the same spirit.	.
To ensure the adequate defence of our boundaries and our territory we must prepare for offensive as well as defensive warfare, which demands costly modern equipment since each division of a modern army must have a minimum firing power of 80 per cent. It is not surprising that under such conditions our money, which prepares the defence of the democratic world, at the same time creates inflation. Inflation is the inevitable result of our defence work and the defence of our allies. In other words it is the price of the peace and security of the free nations.
Among the remedies advanced, the leader of the opposition (Mr. Drew) has implicitly suggested the control of our economy. After repeating what he had suggested on April 9, 1951, that he favoured the introduction of emergency controls immediately to the extent that they are required to deal effectively with the cost of living and inflation, he proposed an amendment which reads as follows:
We respectfully represent to Your Excellency that in the opinion of this house adequate steps should be taken to combat inflation and deal effectively with the high cost of living.
This proposal of the hon. leader of the opposition is an about-turn in the policy of the party he represents. The policy of his party after the war years was constantly to demand the withdrawal of controls. Who has forgotten those declarations to the effect that the Liberal party by maintaining controls was playing in a socialist game? The amendment moved by the hon. leader of the opposition may surprise us, but the one moved by the hon. member for Rosetown-Biggar (Mr. Coldwell) does not. Since that time the leader of the opposition seems to have changed his mind and is less insistent about controls. If that is so, well and good.
Would controls be a remedy? Let us say first that our constitution rests on the freedom of our institutions, on the freedom of the individual who seeks under the protection of those institutions the right to live in harmony with the principles of human dignity. The controls which are suggested would interfere with the freedom of both the individual and our democratic institutions. Let the members of the opposition parties unite and come right out to tell us what controls they wish and in whait way those controls would loosen the

grip of inflation. The door would then be open for discussion. Would controls cause the money spent on defence to produce more consumer goods? Personally I do not believe so.
The remedy is to bring our economy to produce consumer goods in sufficient quantity to meet the demand which springs from the circulation of money spent on armaments. We must increase the production of consumer goods by employing more people on it, and by increasing their productivity. When there are enough consumer goods on the market to meet the demand created by our armaments production program, then inflation will cease to exist, provided that we create a state of public mind capable of overcoming the tide of inflation. The Minister of Finance (Mr. Abbott) clearly indicated the way, as reported at page 1800 of Hansard of the first session of 1951:
As I have said on previous occasions, this is not a matter in which government policies alone can provide a complete solution. It is a matter which requires the fullest co-operation of all sections and groups, in which every person has a part to play.
In 1948 the Federal Bank of Atlanta, Georgia, already sounded the alarm:
Through the United States (in 1947) most consumers seemed intent on proving that if they had the purchasing power they would spend it all on goods and services. They saved less of their current incomes, they dipped into their past savings and they ran into debt. They even paid higher and higher prices, though reluctantly, rather than forgo the pleasure of satisfying their wants as much as they possibly could.
Who in Canada and the United States listened to those warnings? Who would have listened to this advice after what Mr. William H. Davis had said in September, 1945? Mr. Davis was then director of economic stabilization in the United States, and he said that as a result of the post-war economic policy of the government the standard of living would rise by 50 per cent in the course of the next five years without any increase in the cost of living. This statement was reported at the time by the British United Press. The least that can be said about it is that Mr. Davis was shortsighted. It is not his fault. Public men wish well for the people for whom they make laws, but it is the individuals themselves who determine the economic climate under, which they wish to live. Any means taken by the government to halt inflation will be effective only to the extent that on the one hand we understand our imperative and urgent duty to limit our needs, and. on the other hand increase with a real determination the production of consumer goods to match our armament production and that, of our allies.

The first aim of the government should be to increase agricultural production by all means. Agriculture will always be the basis of the well-being of peoples. The good earth will always remain, and will give to those who will work it with affection. However hard the toil, she will give her various fruits, our daily subsistence. Keeping on the farms those who already are there, bringing back to agriculture those who have abandoned it, replacing on the land those who have left it forever; that is the first task of the state. One way of doing it is by maintaining subsidies; another is to free the farmer as much as possible from the burden of taxation which might discourage him; a third way would be to lend the farmers as much money as possible on a long-term basis and at a low rate of interest.
Since the war loans to farmers, under our laws for the helping of agriculture, have always been made at a rate higher than that paid by governments and municipal corporations on their numerous loans. Under the Farm Improvement Loans Act in 1950, some 58,969 loans to a value at $63,421,363.06 were made to Canadian farmers at a rate of 5 per cent. In the same year provincial governments and municipal corporations borrowed hundreds of millions at a rate of between 2-| and 3 per cent. The government was able to sell in the United States during the 1949-50 fiscal year a $100 million issue at a rate of 2J per cent.
Another proposal would be to amend the Farm Improvement Loans Act so the commissioners could acquire all abandoned good land. There is a great amount of it in the many counties of Quebec, and there must be more in certain counties of other provinces. That land could be sold again on long-term contracts to those who would sincerely wish to make it produce. If, for reasons of autonomy, my idea cannot be accepted by the government of Canada, I would wish this idea to be taken up by the provincial authorities so that all the land could be put into full production.
I was happy to hear the Prime Minister (Mr. St. Laurent) declare on October 12, 1951, as reported at page 38 of Hansard:
I know farmers in various parts of Canada and X know for a fact that at the present time they are getting a larger share of the national income than they ever got before. I am not saying that they should not. I am not saying that they are getting too much. I know that they work hard for what they get and I feel that the prices they are getting under present price levels are not too high and that it would not be fair to try to roll them back.
I am certain farmers throughout Canada will be grateful to the Prime Minister for making that declaration.
The Address-Mr. Boisvert


Mr. Fair:: It is 9-95 per cent of the national income. My authority is the bureau of statistics.


Maurice Boisvert: We have there a situation which needs to be straightened out in the near future, if we wish to restore the equilibrium between agricultural and industrial labour. A nation as young as ours and with so small a population would run to its destruction if it had to seek in other countries the food for its people. The agricultural problem is not political as much as it is moral. The younger generation do not wish to remain on the land any more. Work is too hard; farm help is too difficult to get; the uncertainty of seasons, crops and prices is always present. If we do not concern ourselves actually with the desertion of cultivated lands in Canada, a time will come too soon indeed when some people will see in the nationalization of farming the salvation of this primary industry of the nations. On that day, although by a different road, we will have reached the same state as Soviet Russia. Do we not already see in the United States large tracts of farm land held by a small number of persons? The farms are in the hands of a few individuals. All the modern revolutions have sought to bring about a condition wherein tillable soil would be divided among as many owners as possible. The revolution in 1917 in Russia was started against the large farm owners. In Poland, after the war, the communists promised to parcel out farm land; and that explains why the Poles have accepted a regime they cannot love because of its atheistic ideology. I could multiply these examples. They are too well known for me to insist.
Yet Liberal governments have done a lot to help agriculture. Witness those ten acts which help check the desertion from the land. When I talk of desertion from the land I am not far from the truth. In 1901, a third of our population lived in the city and two-thirds in the country. In 1951 less than a third live in the country and two-thirds in towns and cities. We witness such a decrease in the production of butter that we have to import this essential product from other countries. We witness margarine and other substitutes invading the market and taking the place of butter. How many examples could we draw from the evolution of agriculture to demonstrate that it is no longer the first industry in Canada. In the booklet "Canada 1951" it is stated that Canada is no longer as predominantly agricultural as it was two decades ago. By putting an end to inflation in agriculture we will have taken a long step
498	HOUSE OF
The Address-Mr. Boisvert toward ending the general problem of inflation which holds such a prominent place in our debates.
Political parties have an important place in the working of the democratic nations. What political party could claim the power to alter the course of events if it were called upon to form the government of the country? What party in this house would do better than the present government, when faced with the unsteadiness of the present time? We in Canada must rejoice that we have a government supported by a determined public opinion solidly behind the policies adopted by parliament to protect us against internal as well as external trouble.
Heading one of the principal democratic governments, the Prime Minister of Canada enjoys the satisfaction of knowing that he has the support of a House of Commons truly representative of our people who, in the face of a troubled future, stand ready and willing to make the greatest sacrifices to safeguard the most cherished of their possessions-freedom, faith in God and in our institutions, the most stable institutions in the world today.
(Translation):
Mr. Speaker, there is no need1 for me to apologize for concluding my remarks in French. You understand the French language and there was nobody happier than myself to see you spend a month in Quebec, along with the hon. member for Greenwood (Mr. Macdonnell), who also spent some time there, in order to perfect your already extensive knowledge of a language which is that of the great majority of Quebeckers, and more particularly, of all my constituents. I know, moreover, that a large number of our English-speaking colleagues know French far better than they will ever admit to us.
As a member for an entirely agricultural constituency, I see in the problems of agriculture the very problems of peace. It seems to me that if there were only farmers in this world, war would be unnecessary. Great prosperity, born of extensive industrialization, has led a great many people to believe that war is very profitable. There is no doubt that ever since the very dawn of history war has, unfortunately, made for progress at the price of countless horrors and crimes. War is undescribably loathsome to the farmers as a class. Modern science, so admirable and materialistic, is making it ever more barbarous and inhuman. There is not, in all the world, a more peaceful occupation than that of agriculture.
At a congress recently held in Mexico, delegates from the four corners of the earth


have, warned that agriculture, in every country, was threatened with decrepitude. No efforts must be spared to rehabilitate Canadian agriculture. Our first concern must be its continued prosperity.
(Text):


Mr. Howard Meeker (Waterloo South):: Mr. Speaker, to be able to rise in this House of Commons in Ottawa and participate in the debate on the speech from the throne is a great honour which a few months ago was beyond my wildest dreams. As I begin I should like to express my appreciation to all hon. members of this house for the many kindnesses and courtesies they have shown to us, the four new members. I should like to join with those who have spoken before me in congratulating the mover (Mr. Cauchon) and seconder (Mr. Simmons) of the address in reply to the speech from the throne. It gives me great pleasure to do this because I understand such honours usually go to comparatively new members of the house.
I was elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Karl Homuth, who was loved and respected by the members of all parties in this house. In the course of my campaign I talked to many people and many people talked to me, and on no occasion did I hear anything but praise of Karl Homuth as a member and as a man.
I am told that young members sometimes have difficulty in deciding how much they shall say, but happily no such difficulty presents itself to me today. There are certain definite matters that the people of my constituency expect me to touch upon. However, these are problems common to all constituencies throughout Canada. First of all, I want to deal with the veterans. Last year the government took action with respect to disabled veterans which was most disagreeable to the returned men of both world wars. We had all understood that whatever pension a veteran received was awarded to him as a matter of right, not as a matter of grace or charity. If a man lost an arnj in the war, his arm was considered to be as precious as another man's arm, and a veteran's right to pension was not based on any question of need. It was based solely on the veteran's right to compensation. I warn the government that until it does something clearly and definitely to place the pensioner back in the position he was in before the last session of parliament it is going to find growing resentment among all the veterans of Canada. In spite of some general references we cannot tell yet what the government is going to do, but if this session ends without some increase in the basic rate of pensions and allowances

for veterans we as members will be charged with turning our backs on the veterans of our country.
We have here the Canadian Legion, and I think every Canadian is proud that we have such an organization to look after our veterans. The Canadian Legion is not asking that the basic rate of pension be raised; it is asking that the pension the veteran receives be made to correspond with the rise in the cost of living since 1939. Any person or any government interested in Canadian veterans cannot claim they are asking for something which they do not deserve.
I am not going into the question of increases in civil service pay. Like all others subject to fixed incomes these people have had to grapple with rapidly rising living costs. Only last December an increase was granted to the civil servants, and prior to that increases had been granted in 1947 and 1948. I have no quarrel with this at all, but why are the veterans, of all people, singled out? Does the government think they are not affected by the rising costs of living? The last increase in veterans pensions was made effective in May, 1948, and since then the cost of living has increased by more than 30 per cent.
For five years I have thought the national hockey league had the best pension system I had heard of, but my understanding of what has been happening in parliament proves that I have been all wrong. In 1946 a judge of the superior court of a province received a salary of $9,000 and also a pension from the government, to which he contributed nothing, of $6,000. His salary has been increased twice since that time, with the result that he is now eligible for a pension of $9,600 to which he contributes nothing. So a judge who had a salary of $9,000 in 1946 can now retire with a pension of $9,600. The chief justice of Canada a few years ago received a salary of $15,000; his salary is now $25,000. If he retires now his pension will be $16,666.66, to which he contributes nothing. This is all out of the taxpayers' money, and so it goes all along the line when we are dealing with judges. I put it to this house that it is pretty hard for a veteran who has lost an arm or a leg and whose wife and family suffer with him in his disability to observe such generous treatment for a small section of our public service while they are treated as poor relations or the underprivileged of the community.
I want next to speak about the rising cost of living, particularly as it affects young people who are trying to build homes. As a professional hockey player I am in receipt of a pretty good income. It is good while it
The Address-Mr. Meeker lasts, at any rate, but of course it does not last long enough. As a married man I wanted to build a home, one that would be large enough to accommodate a family. I settled on a house that I am quite sure in the 1920's would not have been beyond the capacity of a skilled worker to buy and pay for over the years, but I could not do it. I went to an architect and explained to him the requirements of my family in the way of a house, three bedrooms, recreation room and so on. I told him that I would like this house to cost in the neighbourhood of $10,000. He drew up a set of plans and we O.K.'ed them. I took them to a contractor and asked him how much it would cost to build that house for me in New Hamburg, a small community where costs are known to be much lower than in the average city. He said, "Howard, that house will cost you $17,000." I said, "Have you made a mistake?" He said, "No, that is the actual cost of that house." I was a little on the doubtful side and I took the plans to another contractor, a friend of mine. He looked over the plans and brought them back in a few minutes. When I asked what it would cost he said, "That house will cost you $17,000 without the garage."


Stanley Howard Knowles: Some friend.


Howard William Meeker: I ask the government: how
can average workingmen save any money today? I do not think it is possible for them to get the down payment on a house. We thought we could build a small home and instal some luxuries such as a washing machine, refrigerator and electric stove. That house would cost us over $20,000, and by no stretch of the imagination could we afford $20,000.
I read recently in one of our metropolitan papers that there are today more than 500,000 families in Canada without homes, about twice as many as in 1939. Industries are expanding, population is increasing and immigrants are arriving on our shores. If something is not done the situation will grow progressively worse. How can we put forward our best effort in defending peace and democracy if our workers are huddled together as they were in the darkest days of the great depression? People are asking me why in Canada, of all countries, we should have a seemingly incurable housing shortage when we are not dependent on outside sources for building materials. We have them all here. We have all the resources to meet our housing needs.
We know the government's housing program is a failure. As a man who has tried to build his own home, I want to say that I think a government building program will

The Address-Mr. Kickham always be a failure as long as we are in this spiral of mounting costs and prices. We are told today that we have to pay for our part in Korea and our contribution to the Atlantic powers. We all know that without' being told, but people are asking me why the Minister of Finance (Mr. Abbott) estimated that he could only save $30 million out of the new taxes imposed last year and now at the end of five months has a surplus of more than half a billion dollars. Income taxes are so high that personal savings are difficult even for people with reasonably good incomes. Worse still, the consumption taxes, the indirect taxes such as the sales tax and the special taxes on essential household goods, make savings out of the question. Those taxes make it difficult for hard-working people to secure the essentials of life. It is hard for them to buy the proper nutritious foods for their children, and it is hard for people engaged in heavy manual work to buy the food essential to maintain them in vigour and health.
The cost of living is still rising. We are getting close to the point where the Canadian dollar is worth 50 cents. Clothing is up, and in this country people have to be suitably clothed. Footwear is up, and what is more essential than shoes? Woollen wear is up; floor coverings, dishes, fuel and light, coal and coke are up. May I conclude by asking when and where is all this going to stop?


Mr. T. J. Kickham (Kings):: Mr. Speaker, I wish to join with hon. members who have preceded me in this debate in extending congratulations to the mover (Mr. Cauchon) and seconder (Mr. Simmons) of the address in reply to the speech from the throne. They have discharged their responsibilities splendidly, bringing distinction to themselves and also to the ridings they represent in the house. I also wish to join hon. members in their expressions of pleasure that Canadian citizens are enjoying the special privilege of acting as host to our future queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. I only hope and trust they may enjoy their visit to our country to the fullest measure.
I am sure it gives all Canadian citizens great comfort to know that at this present session the government is introducing legislation to bring into effect the recommendations of the old age security committee, thus bringing the fulfilment of a moral obligation to our elderly Canadian citizens. We have another distinct group of people in Canada whom I feel should come next as deserving of serious consideration by the government; that is our returned veterans. I am pleased to know that legislation will be introduced at the present session with respect to veterans. I feel that those of us who for various reasons were

not placed in the hazardous front line of battle should bend over backward to meet the appeals of the men and women who were in the front line of the battle for freedom and who, through their self-sacrificing efforts and love for us, successfully defended those safe harbours, our homes.
Personally I feel that even though in meeting the appeals of veteran citizens we taxpayers may feel the pinch of increased taxation, our moral obligation to those brave men and women is such that we should meet this tax pinch with intense personal pride and satisfaction. It should bring comfort to us to know that in tangible gratitude to them we give until it hurts, as they so unstintingly gave to us. I would urge the government not only to grant to veterans already receiving pensions an increase in the basic rate thereof but also to broaden our veterans legislation to establish veterans on pensions who are not eligible at the present time because of restrictions in the act.
I refer particularly to veterans with neurotic conditions before and after service, those veterans whom our present legislation does not cover, veterans with what our pension examiners call pre-enlistment physical conditions. Granting that a man suffered from a pre-enlistment physical disability, I think it should be recognized that the rigours of active service would most certainly worsen his condition. How many veterans find that although at the time of their discharge no claim for disability was filed, with advancing years their conditions are aggravated because of their service. I hope that at the present session legislation will be introduced putting into effect a broadening of our present legislation so as to embrace a greater number of veterans, and also to grant an increase to all veterans receiving pensions at the present time.
I now wish to refer to another group of Canadian citizens who are carrying on a great service to the people of Canada; that is our rural mail couriers, who I am convinced are rendering an important service for which they are not being fairly paid. No blame can be attached to the Post Office Department or the government for the existing circumstances inasmuch as all rural mail couriers entered into competitive tender contracts with the department. The hardship exists for the rural mail contractor in that when he tendered two or three years ago to carry out the contract terms to their expiry, he could not foresee the added costs which have come about. It can be fairly said, of course, that he has the privilege of terminating the contract upon giving three months notice, but it is not just as easy as it would

appear because he has already invested in equipment to carry on the service for a four year period, and if his contract goes to tender it is quite possible he may lose it. He may then have to dispose of his equipment at a loss.
After exploring ways and means of giving assistance to rural mail couriers, I have come to the conclusion that the re-establishment of supplementary increases such as were granted between the years 1946 and 1949 would provide at least a temporary measure of relief. At present mail couriers engaged for less than $1,000 may apply for supplementary increases, and this group represents approximately seventy per cent of the couriers.
Another matter which demands the attention of this government, and I trust one that will be corrected without delay, is that of a minimum scale of rates of pay. I refer particularly to contracts let by the Department of Public Works in our province, and to contracts let to the official or registered repair dock at Charlottetown. I submit, Mr. Speaker, that the minimum rates of pay on government contract work should be made uniform in all provinces. I can see no grounds for the present discrimination in our province. Our costs for household furnishings, building supplies and clothing are, in fact, higher than in the central provinces.
May I say, Mr. Speaker, that I noted with concern the observations made by the hon. member for Essex West (Mr. Brown), in urging that the defence production department divide Canada into zones so as to eliminate the competitive tender system now in operation. The position taken by the hon. member is directly contrary to the declared policies of the Liberal party, which is to afford equal opportunities to each and every Canadian citizen.
Referring to the application of the Canadian National Railways to the board of transport commissioners requesting a reversal of their former ruling that the province of Prince Edward Island become one zone rather than two, as it has been in freight rate applications, I trust that the chief commissioner's ruling will be sustained.
On the question of price controls, I am in favour of the government's stand, and glad it is not being deterred by strong pressure groups. We do not want our free enterprise system destroyed by hundreds of bureaucrats directing the daily lives of the people. From past experience I think it is not too unfair to say they generally misdirect our affairs, and bring heavy administration costs to the taxpayers. Speaking from a farmer's viewpoint, it is not the
The Address-Mr. Higgins farmer's products that have contributed the greater portion of the rise in the cost of living index. Our prices are always the first to drop and the last to advance. For example, for a period of two weeks the highest price the packers paid for grade A dressed weight hogs was $40.50 per hundredweight. On October 1 the price had dropped to $28 per hundredweight, a drop of 12J cents per pound. In comparison to the sharp drop in the price of dressed pork, can anyone point to a manufactured article we must buy that is so sensitive to market conditions? No; the prices of those articles are fixed at high levels for long periods of time, and it is a take it or leave it attitude as far as the farmer purchaser is concerned.
I have letters from our provincial federation of agriculture and the maritime federation of agriculture, strongly endorsing the majority report of the Massey commission to the government.
The recommendations set out in the MacQuarrie commission report to the government on retail price-fixing also meets with my approval, and I am pleased to know that at this session the government proposes to bring in remedial legislation.


Mr. G. F. Higgins (St. John's East):: First of all, Mr. Speaker, I wish to avail myself of the privilege of extending my congratulations to the mover (Mr. Cauchon) and seconder (Mr. Simmons) of the address in reply to the speech from the throne. I did not have the pleasure of hearing those speeches, but I did read them carefully and I thought the material was excellent.
May I say that at this particular time I do not intend to devote my remarks to the formal address in reply so much as, if you will, to indulge in a little pump politics, as I believe it has been described. I wish to deal chiefly with matters concerning the province of which I am one of the representatives. I do that, Mr. Speaker, for a definite reason; that is, because there will be no other opportunity during this session of parliament to deal with many of the matters I want to discuss. Moreover I think it is fair enough to say that until my province becomes properly integrated into the dominion, a little more leeway should be given to its members in putting forward the various matters which they feel should be attended to by the federal government. With that excuse, if you can call it that, I shall go ahead with my complaints.
Before doing so, I should like to say a word to the Minister of Resources and Development (Mr. Winters), who is in his seat at the moment. The citizens of the province are so grateful to him for a decision made last year with respect to the birds known as turrs and
PROVINCIAL LIBRARY, VICTORIA ft r

The Address-Mr. Higgins now known as murres, that I feel the minister could be quite certain of having a seat in a Newfoundland constituency if he should so decide.
High on the list of complaints is the question of long distance telephone charges. In the minds of many people I suppose that is not a great factor, but there is a certain amount of business to be done by long distance telephone, even in that faraway province. Just to illustrate what the people of the province have to put up with in that connection, may I say that tolls are not charged on the same basis as on the mainland. The province of Newfoundland is still regarded as an overseas country. For instance one might call from Ottawa to Vancouver at night or on Sunday for $4.65, whereas a call to Newfoundland during the same time, which is a very much shorter distance, costs $7.50. The daytime minimum charge for a call from Ottawa to Vancouver is $4.60, and the minimum to Newfoundland is $7.50. To go a step further, a Sunday call of three minutes from Ottawa to the Bahamas costs $5.25, yet a similar call from Ottawa to Newfoundland costs $7.50. We are on exactly the same rates for a Sunday call as Bermuda or Costa Rica, for a period of three minutes. Mr. Speaker, for that same time one can call Halifax from Ottawa for $2.10. The same rates apply whether the call is made to or from Newfoundland.
I feel that is a just cause for complaint and I believe the Minister of Transport (Mr. Chevrier) has already given an undertaking to the premier of Newfoundland that this situation is to be remedied. I would ask him, if he has the opportunity of perusing these remarks, to take action in this matter without too great delay.
Another complaint of the same type is with regard to telegraph rates. The request we make is that telegraph rates be brought into effect in Newfoundland similar to those applying to local traffic on the maritime mainland and elsewhere in Canada, and that day letter and night letter service be extended to Newfoundland telegraph traffic. At the present time there is no day letter or night letter service. Also in line with that request we ask that the basic telegraph rates from Newfoundland to other provinces and other parts of the world be broadened in line with those already in effect in Canada. From a Canadian Press dispatch of October 27 I note the following:
Canada's two telegraph companies have been granted permission to boost telegram rates effective November 1, an official of the board of transport commissioners said yesterday.

A board order, issued to the companies, authorizes increases of ten and fifteen cents on standard-wordage telegrams, plus varying increases on charges for extra words.
The increases are allowed for telegrams within Canada, but not including Newfoundland. Newfoundland tolls now are higher than those of the rest of the country.
I may say that in regard to all these matters I have raised so far, resolutions were passed by the maritime transportation commission at Moncton on October 12 last and by the Newfoundland board of trade on October 19. I do not intend to read the resolutions, but I have them in case they are needed.
Speaking in this house on October 15, as reported at page 84 of Hansard, in a fine address indeed the hon. member for Bona-venture (Mr. Arsenault) devoted his entire time to the question of the conservation of the Atlantic salmon fisheries. I read the address with great care. To any hon. member who did not have the pleasure of hearing the hon. member for Bonaventure I offer the suggestion that he should read that address, because it is well worth careful attention. The recommendations made by the hon. member are chiefly concerned with the suspension of Port aux Basques and Miramichi drift net fisheries under federal control until the breeding stock is restored, and the setting up of a commission with wide executive powers, representative of the provinces concerned and of the federal government, to take immediate action in order to restore the Atlantic salmon fisheries. On October 23, the Montreal Gazette commented editorially on the hon. member's speech as follows:
Mr. Arsenault offered his own opinion, which substantiates those of authorities of the highest competency, in charging drift-netting with the main responsibility in the decline and threatened destruction of the fisheries. At the mouth of the Miramichi alone he cited the fact of 150 drift-netters' boats being based during the fishing season. They fish at night with nets three-quarters of a mile long and twelve feet deep. In his opinion the complete suspension of drift-netting would result in no immediate crisis.
As a remedy for this state of affairs Mr. Arsenault suggested the suspension of Port aux Basques and Miramichi drift-net fisheries until the breeding stock is restored. He also suggested the setting up of a commission with wide executive powers, representative of the provinces concerned and of the federal government to take immediate action to restore the Atlantic salmon fisheries.
These suggestions appear timely, reasonable and urgent. It is in the country's best interests that they be acted upon without further delay.
I endorse the hon. member's remarks most heartily, as I am sure do most hon. members of the house who are conversant with that particular fishery. The importance of the salmon fishery to Newfoundland has been stressed often in the house, and in asking the Minister of Fisheries (Mr. Mayhew) once

again to take into consideration a suggestion I made to him on two previous occasions, I feel that I will not be doing too much in the way of repetition because in my opinion it is a necessary idea. 1 suggested that he take a river, and for purposes of experiment I suggest the Gander river adjoining the huge Gander airport. That river has a rather narrow estuary, and there are some twenty fishermen engaged in netting around the mouth of the river, in the estuary. I suggest to the minister that for a matter of $400 per man he could have all those fishermen cease catching salmon in that particular area. They could be game wardens of a type, if necessary; at all events, they would not fish. For an expenditure of $8,000 a year I think that suggestion would be well worth trying. Certainly it would be much cheaper than trying to have a fish hatchery in order to take care of what otherwise might be necessary in the years to come.
So much for salmon. The next complaint I wish to mention is with regard to Trans-Canada air service to Newfoundland. I have no kick as to the personnel or as to the planes being used. We find the service courteous and the personnel competent. The real complaint, however, is the question of a direct service from Montreal to St. John's. At the present time, if one is in luck in making the best possible connections, it will still take some eleven hours to fly from Montreal to St. John's. That is an unfortunate situation. It has been going on now for such a great length of time that we feel that unless Trans-Canada Air Lines is awakened, it may keep on for good. In other words, it is the "milk run". In going from Ottawa to Montreal it is all right. Then we get on the plane from Montreal and go to Moncton. From Moncton it is an alternative trip either to Saint John, N.B., or to Halifax; then from Halifax to Sydney, from Sydney across to Harmon field, from Harmon field to Gander and from Gander into Torbay. With a direct run that time could be cut by seven hours. We could have a four-hour flight from Montreal to St. John's, without any trouble whatsoever. It seems to me that with the present volume of traffic, and with the need existing for it, there could well be a daily direct plane from Montreal to Torbay. That particular request was also the subject of a resolution passed by the maritime transportation commission at Moncton on the date I previously mentioned, namely, October 12, and also by the Newfoundland board of trade on October 19.
Going down my list of complaints, Mr. Speaker, I find that another one is the question of new railway cars being provided for
The Address-Mr. Higgins the Canadian National Railways service in Newfoundland. As the house is aware, when we became part of the great Dominion of Canada we gave over free our entire railway service then existing. At that time it was valued at no less than $70 million by the railway officials. On various occasions requests have been made that the gauge be broadened to the standard gauge in Canada. The Minister of Transport has told us that is impossible, because it would cost too much. With that we are prepared to agree. We have to make the best of a bad bargain in that respect, but what we do feel strange about is that with respect to the new railway cars being built no consideration has been given to air conditioning. We are not back in the stage-coach days. It does seem to me that the new railway cars being supplied to the Newfoundland railway should be air conditioned. I ask the minister to take that into consideration. I do not think the cost should be too great.
Another matter that has been raised by hon. members previously is an increase in pensions to war veterans. Along with all the other Newfoundland members, as well as other hon. members, I received requests from the branch of the Canadian Legion in St. John's, and I intend fully to support that request. I believe the other hon. members will also support it.
Another request had to do with the correction of the existing situation with respect to express facilities on the railways. The express traffic is handled at the present time by freight, but at the express rates. That also, Mr. Speaker, has been the subject of a resolution of the transport commission and the board of trade of Newfoundland.
As I said at the beginning, I offer no excuses for introducing these somewhat parochial matters in this debate. I do so because there will be no other opportunity of mentioning them at this particular session, and I am taking advantage of this debate to bring them to the attention of the house.
Before passing on from what one may say has been a more or less purely local speech, may I touch on the cost of living, particularly one aspect of it that affects us in Newfoundland and also generally all over the dominion. I am now referring to the cost of tobacco. In my constituency of St. John's East we have a branch factory of the Imperial Tobacco Company, and have had for many years past. Shortly before I left to come to Ottawa for this session the president and some members of his union called on me to make a protest with respect to the increased taxation on tobacco and tobacco products.
504	HOUSE OF
The Address-Mr. Higgins During the conversation I learned that they were worried lest the increased cost of tobacco would cause the Imperial Tobacco Company to close down that branch factory. Lay-offs have already taken place and there has been a 50 per cent drop in sales since the last federal budget. Bearing in mind the wonderful advantages that had been detailed to us on entering this confederation-and there have been advantages, Mr. Speaker, there is no question about that, although some of them have not been as good as they appeared at the outset-may I say that a lot of our people use what we call plug tobacco, that is pressed tobacco. It runs in weight to one-quarter of a pound. That was the usual plug of tobacco prior to our entering confederation. That plug of tobacco sold for 27 cents. With the benefit of confederation, it now costs 65 cents. It is quite a change from 27 cents to 65 cents, but I suppose we have to consider the many blessings of confederation. I have been told that the only other factory making this particular type of tobacco is at Granby, Quebec. My informant tells me that in Newfoundland they make as much in a day as Granby does in a year, as far as this particular type of tobacco is concerned.
I am not going to go too far into the cost of living. I realize that this particular parliament is going to be known as the cost of living parliament, but frankly I do not see any particular reason why the opposition has to suggest definite policies on how to counteract the effects of the high cost of living. That is the job, the very definite job, of the government. I most heartily agree with my leader in the motion he has moved stating that the government is not taking adequate steps to combat inflation and deal effectively with the high cost of living. I support the amendment he moved in that connection.
We all know the famous headache tablets known as Frosst's 222. Last week we had a proposition put forward to try to cure the headache of old age pensions. I believe that tablet will be known as Abbott's 2.2.2. But, Mr. Speaker, we will have to go a little further into this particular headache we have ahead of us, the headache of rising prices and the way that it has been tackled by the government. The proposition they have put forward, the tablet to cure the headache is "do, do, do"; do it by excessive taxes; do it with credit restriction, and do it by cutting out non-essential spending. This "do, do, do" is all very well. The other day I listened to the hon. member for Coast-Capilano (Mr. Sinclair) for whom I have great respect, and who usually enunciates his principles very clearly. All he had to suggest


were measures to cut the excess purchasing power in the hands of the people. It struck me, Mr. Speaker, that it would require con-sumate gall to make a statement like that, when we realize that in this country today a very great number of people have not enough money to buy the ordinary things to keep themselves alive, and quite a number of people are without work. Therefore, "do, do, do" is not going to accomplish very much for us.
It is not the job of the opposition to cure this headache. It is the job of the government, and I am going to leave it with them until they cure it. In reading a recent issue of the Ottawa Journal I came across an editorial dealing with the income tax. It stated that one thing about income tax was that people were paying the same amount everywhere; that the man in Nanaimo, the man in Ottawa, and the man in St. John's, Newfoundland, were paying exactly the same amount, depending on similar conditions of earnings and of course of deductions. That is so, but should it be so, Mr. Speaker? Possibly my reasoning is not very sound in this matter, but it does not seem to be fair that a person living in Ottawa and earning $3,000 a year, should pay exactly the same tax as a man in Newfoundland who earns $3,000 a year and who has the same deductions. Why do I say that? I say that because there can be no question about the fact that the cost of living in Ottawa is much lower than it is in St. John's, Newfoundland, and that is only to be expected. You cannot carry the goods that are used for eating and for wearing without costing money; and then there is the cost of handling these goods. Obviously it is impossible to have the same goods costing the same amount of money in both places. Is it fair that the man in St. John's, Newfoundland, who earns identically the same amount of money but is faced with a higher cost of living, should pay the same amount of taxation? I do not know; there may be some weakness in my reasoning- perhaps there is-but that does not seem quite right to me. If we are to be just in this matter there should be a regional factor in connection with the levying of income tax. It should be based on the cost of living in various parts of Canada. I realize that might be a headache from the standpoint of enforcement, but I do feel it would be just.
Then I would make one final reference to provincial matters. The legislature in Newfoundland began its sittings last Wednesday, and a report of its proceedings appears in the Evening Telegram of October 27. There would appear to be a very definite cause for worry. The premier practically declared war

on the federal government and the rest of Canada, so far as I could see. The heading of this particular article is, "Premier attacks Canadian government, armed forces; reveals poor treatment of west German government mission at Goose Bay". The article goes on to say:
Premier Smallwood Wednesday afternoon held the spotlight in the opening proceedings of the 29th assembly. Annoyed with the temporary failure of the Seigheim Labrador pulpwood deal and the unhappy events that have occurred in connection with it, he pounded his desk, waved his arms and shouted defiance against the Canadian army, navy, air force and federal government.
A story he unfolded revealed shoddy treatment at Goose Bay airport for a mission from the West German government (they were confined) and the circulation of reports which put Labrador in a bad light as far as economic development is concerned.
And, later, the article goes on to say:
Then the premier revealed that government officials had been confined after landing at Goose Bay, where they were held for a day. The premier termed this action outrageous and said Labrador belonged to Newfoundland, not Canada. He said he was "boiling mad" and was taking no back talk from the Canadian army, navy, air force or Canadian government.
Then the article proceeds:
Making his greatest outburst, the premier, apparently alluding to Canadian officials in Labrador and the instigators of reports decrying the development possibilities there, said "I'll start a war."
In view of the present world situation it seems to me the government should take heed of what is going on. It comes as a great surprise to me that the premier is going to make war on the federal government, because I always understood that he and the government at Ottawa were on the closest of terms. Why he is going to make war on them, as well as on the Canadian army, navy and air force, is beyond me. I think we should have an explanation from the government in the matter.
In the same newspaper, and I presume referring to the article I have just read, appears the following:
Speaking in the legislature yesterday on the slow-up of the Seigheim deal to start cutting timber in Labrador this winter, Premier J. R. Smallwood elaborated slightly on a charge he had hinted at Wednesday when the house reopened.
Mr. Smallwood had said that some organization was trying to discredit Labrador as a logging centre. He did not say who.
Yesterday, while independent member E. J. Russell was speaking on the timber deal, Mr. Smallwood said:	"I'll give you the name right now.
The Canadian Pulp and Paper Association is carrying on an active campaign to discredit Labrador as a logging centre."
There is a definite charge that the Minister of Trade and Commerce (Mr. Howe) should investigate. After all, the organization charged by Premier Smallwood is a reliable one. I understand Mr. Fowler, who
The Address-Mr. Higgins heads that organization, is at present occupying an important position on the special council set up by the federal government in connection with manpower. I have felt it proper to bring this matter to the attention of the government.
I believe that concludes my complaints from home. I am sure all hon. members were more than happy to hear the news of the return to power in England of that grand old battler, Winston Churchill. I am certain members of this House of Commons will wish him well in the job he has to face. I notice another election is about to take place. However, I was somewhat surprised by some remarks I read at page 230 of Hansard. The hon. member for Cariboo (Mr. Murray), I suggest, should explain what he said on that occasion, and this would seem to be the appropriate time for him to do so. This is what the hon. member said:
Perhaps this would be the appropriate occasion to refer to the fact that one of our number has gone forth to meet the forces of unrighteousnes in Ontario.
I suppose the hon. member on that occasion was referring to Mr. Thomson, who was formerly the member for the constituency of Ontario. The hon. member should explain what he means by this statement.
I have only one further brief comment to make, and this arises out of my reading an address by General Eisenhower who, at the time, was president of Columbia university. This address was delivered on June 8, 1950, at the one hundred and ninety-sixth commencement exercises of the university. He posed eight questions for those graduates, and those questions struck me as going right to the heart of the international difficulties of these times. They were these:
1.	How can we faithfully pursue the ideal of world peace and friendship when, with discouraging frequency, we see rejected and scorned proposals that seem to us logical, just and fair?
2.	How shall we, in international affairs, assume a firm and unmistakable position in support of freedom without giving to any person a fair basis for the charge that we are truculent or provocative?
3.	How shall we maintain the costly military establishments necessary to international stability and yet avoid such stupendous expenditures that they may dangerously bleed the economy?
4.	How can we carry out necessary programs of rearming potential allies and still avoid fostering the false and dangerous belief that armed might alone can guarantee peaceful security?

The Address-Mr. Higgins
5.	How shall we protect the nation against insidious and even traitorous corruption in responsible places without endangering or reducing individual freedom or the civil rights of any individual?
6.	How shall we escape the unbalanced national budget with its inflationary effects and consequent damage to the wages, savings and security of the average man, and do this without neglecting any of the national functions that are essential to the country's safety and the health of our economy?
7.	How shall we preserve as the constitutional purpose of government the welfare of all our citizens but without making those citizens, or any significant part of them, unnecessarily dependent on governmental subsidy or subject to regimentation?
8.	Confronted by an ever-increasing economic interdependence among all parts of our society, how are we to chart a sane middle course in the conduct of our affairs that will preserve to the individual the fullest measure of freedom and opportunity-to the nation, prosperity and strength and unity?
As General Eisenhower stated, for none of these questions is there a pat and simple answer, and by their nature most of them will never be wholly and perfectly solved. However, unless there is constant progress towards solution that is in keeping with the essentials of our democratic system, the whole order of things as we know them will pass and those who come after us will live in a world which we of today would never recognize. Those coming after us will lose the free choice of religion, of occupation and of dwelling place. As General Eisenhower said:
They would not venerate the same values, respect the same historical figures or even live under the same spiritual and political concepts as prevail today. Educational institutions could, here, as they have in some other places, become mere propaganda machines; libraries would provide priceless treasures for bonfires.
But tragic as these developments would be, there is no reason to grow hysterical or to despair, if we are alert and determined. In the international arena, where complete isolation would be eventual suicide, we have loyal allies; even the least among them is not to be written off. Indeed, if, with them all, we can reach stronger and stronger unity of effort and dedication, based upon common standards of decency and deep-seated aspirations, confidence in peace can be gradually revitalized, and the greatest fear of mankind steadily reduced.
In spite of not being able to supply answers to all these questions, I suggest that the ancient truth spoken some two thousand years ago by Pericles still is as true today as when he used it, namely, the secret of freedom is courage. I presume that is another way of saying, as the late President Roosevelt said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself".
I feel that we can take pride in the debate that took place last week when the motion of the Prime Minister (Mr. St. Laurent) was adopted, which read:
That this house approves the continuation of Canada's participation in the efforts being made through the United Nations to establish international peace, and in particular to defeat aggression and restore peace in Korea, and by the North Atlantic treaty nations to deter aggression and promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area.
That showed quite clearly the difference between a democratic and totalitarian state. It showed that democracy can reach a unanimous decision after free discussion by the people. In a totalitarian state such a decision could be attained only by compulsion without free discussion. It was quite obvious that no partisan considerations entered into the debate, which was maintained on a very high plane. To me it was a demonstration of democracy at its best.
(Translation):


Mr. P. L. Dube (Resiigouche-Madawaska):: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased, at the outset of my remarks, to offer my heartiest congratulations to the mover (Mr. Cauchon) and seconder (Mr. Simmons) of the address in reply to the speech from the throne.
I was very happy to hear the words spoken last Friday by the Minister of Veterans Affairs (Mr. Lapointe), who stated in this house that the government was examining the possibility of raising the pensions of our soldiers who fought so valiantly during the two last wars and who returned to this country crippled, mutilated and unable to earn their livelihood and that of their families.
I am happy to note that the government has decided to yield to the requests that have been made and to grant those who served their country so well, by giving their very best, incomes sufficient to meet the cost of living.
It must not be forgotten that Canada is indebted to those soldiers who during both wars fought for our country and to preserve our liberties.
I urge the government to grant their request without further delay.
While requesting the government to see that an adjustment is made in the amount of pensions paid to our veterans, I must also remind the house that a considerable number of C.N.R. employees have been compelled to retire under the requirements of the law. Let me give some particulars about this matter:

The number of retired employees put under the "Provident Fund" from April 1, 1907 to the end of January 1951 is 7,196.
Number of employees who died
during same period	 3,858
Number of those who returned to
work after retirement	 16
Number of those on the Provident
Fund during January 1951	 3,322
Total amount required in January 1951 to pay the retired
employees	$302,198.74
Included in this total, amount for previous
months	$3,344.89
Included in this total,	*
amount for deceased
members	 1,034.89

 4,379.27

Average for each retired employee $89.65
Number of contributors to the
fund, as of December 31, 1951	4,848
I am pleased to point out that 450 employees are drawing a pension of $30 to $50 a month; 650 employees are drawing a pension of $50 to $90 a month, and a third group of 1,350 employees are drawing a pension of $90 to $130 a month.
Finally, there is a group of 872 employees drawing a pension exceeding $130 per month. The number of retired employees therefore adds up to 3,322.
To my knowledge, only three retired employees are drawing pensions of $500 or more.
I do feel that those first groups of former C.N.R. employees deserve the consideration of the authorities concerned.
In conclusion, it gives me great pleasure to thank the Minister of Public Works (Mr. Fournier) for including in the estimates voted by parliament at the last session a sizeable amount earmarked for the erection of two customs buildings, one at St. Leonard and the other at Clair, both in Madawaska county. I take the liberty of asking the minister to speed up work on those two buildings because accommodation at those two points is disgraceful and inadequate for such important ports.
The Address-Mr. Dube
No doubt the Department of National Revenue will approve the steps I have taken in this connection. This will allow us to complete an undertaking which has long been awaited by the residents of those two localities.
Last year, in this house, I asked for a bridge over the Restigouche river, between Campbellton and Cross Point, Quebec. Since both provincial governments seemed to believe that responsibility for this undertaking was a federal one, and since I had been so requested by the Campbellton council, board of trade and the bridge committee, I wrote the Minister of Justice (Mr. Garson) in order to find out whose responsibilities were whose in a project of this kind. Here is the answer I received on the subject:
(Text):
Ottawa, July 4, 1951
Dear Mr. Dube:
In reply to your letter of June 25 with reference to the building of a bridge over the Restigouche river, I beg to advise you that the view taken in my department is that a bridge over a river which is an interprovincial boundary is a work connecting the provinces and, therefore, is exclusively within federal jurisdiction. Whether or not a bridge should be erected depends, therefore, upon the will of parliament.
Yours truly,
Stuart Garson
(Translation):
Inasmuch as the federal government is alone responsible for the construction of that type of bridge, I will make so bold as to ask the Minister of Public Works to earmark the necessary amount, in his departmental estimates, for the construction of this bridge in the near future.
If my memory serves me well, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Agriculture had approved an appropriation of $300,000 last year, to help the potato producers of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Before I left for Ottawa, I was informed that the producers of my province had not as yet received any assistance. I will therefore take this opportunity of reminding the authorities concerned that these people deserve our every attention because we would most certainly find ourselves in a very unfortunate position if the farmers were not there to provide us with what we need.
(Text):


Mr. Sluder:: Owing to the lateness of the hour, may I move the adjournment of the debate?


Some hon. Members:: Agreed.
On motion of Mr. Studer the debate was adjourned.

Business of the House Mr. Fournier (Hull): Tomorrow we will conclude the debate on second reading of Bill No. 12, to amend the Railway Act. Then it will be referred to the special committee on railway legislation, as will the two following bills: Bill No. 6, to amend the Canadian National-Canadian Pacific Act, 1933, and Bill No. 7, to amend the Maritime Freight Rates Act. Then there are two small bills, No. 8, an act to amend the North Fraser Harbour

Commissioners Act, and Bill No. 9, an act respecting the Toronto harbour commissioners. If we have time we will take up the resolution in the name of the Secretary of State concerning the Public Printing and Stationery Act.
At 6.30 p.m. the house adjourned, without question put, pursuant to the order of the house passed on October 26, 1951.

Tuesday, October 30, 1951